A Brawl to end them all
by MattheJ1
Summary: What would happen if the Smash bros. crew and the All-Stars crew ever met? Well, they probably wouldn't be happy about it.
1. Chapter 1

A Brawl to end them all

_14 years ago, back in the era of the original PlayStation, Nintendo and HAL had a brilliant idea. Why not take the mascots from their most beloved franchises and have them beat the crap out of each other? Thus came Super Smash Bros. It was unprecedented, but it paid off. People loved it, and a franchise of franchises was born._

_1 year ago, back in the era of the PlayStation 3, Sony had a brilliant idea. Why not take the mascots from a bunch of franchises, some of which were theirs, and have them beat the crap out of each other? And thus came PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. It was alright._

_So, two different groups of videogame characters were brought irrevocably into their own universes. But what would happen if they ended up in the same universe? What would happen if these two groups actually had the chance to meet?_

_Well, they'd probably be pissed, for one thing._

**Chapter One**

**Plane of existence**

The cargo door opened, and all of the shipping containers flew out, only to be caught by a patch of netting and dangle from the plane. Kratos took this opportunity to leap onto his opponent, sending him flying with a combo of slashing attacks.

RATATATATAT!

Taken unawares, Kratos was knocked off his feet by Drake's AK-47. Drake began moving in to attack again, but Kratos just smiled. He had a level 3 charge ready, and this idiot was running right into his line of fire.

To the side of him, a fleet of airships swooped in and ambushed the plane, but Kratos took no notice. They always attacked, and they always lost. No big deal.

Now, when the laser blast pierced through one of the airships, that was a big deal.

Suddenly, the sound of gunfire rang out. The two men stopped fighting and turned as the floating city was shot down all around them. This had never happened before and, in any case, what could be powerful enough to even try and fight all of those airships at once?

They soon saw the answer: A giant metal battleship with a mask for its masthead. This imposing battleship was flying right towards them, guns blazing. The two prepared to jump onto this battleship, but something odd happened before they had the chance.

Kratos turned around and saw two men standing on the dangling cargo with them. Drake turned and saw them as well. A teenage boy, dressed all in green, and a muscular man in a purple jumpsuit with a fire-red helmet on. No doubt these two were in league with the battleship currently destroying Colombia. Even if they hadn't been, though, Kratos probably would've killed them anyway.

"So, what do you think?" said Drake. "I'll take the one on the left?"

"And after you die, I will kill both of them," Kratos responded.

"Now that's what I call teamwork!" Drake quipped, charging towards the muscular man. Kratos quickly sent out his Blades of Chaos at the boy in green, but at the last second the boy brought up his shield, blocking the dual swords. The boy retaliated with a sword of his own, deftly sending out a flurry of slashes that posed about as much of a threat to Kratos as a Styrofoam dagger.

Quickly, the boy changed tactics, drawing a bomb and tossing it towards Kratos. Kratos quickly rolled out of the way, but was knocked back by a boomerang the boy threw. The boy then ran towards Kratos, leaping into the air and thrusting his blade downwards for the final blow.

Kratos caught him in midair.

"You are a skilled fighter, boy. Had you been born in Sparta, you would have slain many men. However…"

Kratos activated his charge.

"Hades awaits."

Meanwhile, Captain Falcon sparred with the brown-haired guy some more. Twice, he had attempted a Falcon Punch, but this man was too quick for him. Falcon tried again, only to have the guy jump right over him.

"Seriously, Tights," the guy said. "The only thing louder than you is your outfit! I saw that one a mile away!"

How annoying.

So he changed his tactics. He opened with a Falco Kick, sweeping across the box they were standing upon. Drake easily jumped over this attack and fell down towards Falcon, ready to deliver a swift kick.

Falcon leapt up and grabbed him midair. "Yes!" he shouted triumphantly, launching the man nearly off of the cargo. At the last second, Drake grabbed onto a loose strap and started dangling over the edge, something he seemed to be doing more and more nowadays.

Falcon walked towards the man, ready to finish him off, but something made him stop and turn around. He backed away, fearful and awestruck at the monster that loomed in front of him.

That other man that Link had gone to fight had grown tenfold, and was now wielding a gigantic blue sword. Link was nowhere to be seen, and he hadn't noticed him flying off the cargo, either. Falcon hadn't even seen a Final Smash ball, which had horrible implications.

Falcon weighed his odds, decided they weren't good enough, and opted for plan B. As Kratos began to walk towards him, the captain ran to the edge of the cargo and jumped off. Looking over the edge as he returned to normal size, Kratos saw a small ship swoop by and catch him as he fell.

His opponents decimated, Kratos turned his attention to the battleship that had brought ruin to Columbia. A big ship, to be sure. He looked at the remaining airships, some of which were clearly within his range. He could probably chase the ship down, but if he was shot down-

He was interrupted from his planning by Drake, who was still dangling from the containers. "Yo, Kratos. I could use a hand here."

With one hand, Kratos lifted Drake bodily over his head, throwing him down on the boxes. Drake got up slowly, wincing slightly at his multiple injuries.

"Well, that was fun, wasn't it?" said Drake.

"Soon they will return, with more people," Kratos replied, not looking at Drake.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. And I was thinking, it might be a good idea to stop fighting each other until we beat them."

Kratos turned to him.

"Not forever," Drake said hurriedly. "Believe me, I want to kill you as much as you want to kill me. But it might be a good idea to have a truce for the time being, to help fight these guys off."

He extended his hand. "So what do you say, truce?"

Kratos stared at him funnily.

A moment later, as Drake fell from the container, two thoughts occurred to him.

1. Only Kratos can decide when Kratos needs to stop fighting.

2. He didn't seem to be respawning.


	2. Chapter 2: Preparations

**Chapter 2**

**Preparations**

"He used a Final Smash, even though there hadn't been a Smash ball," Captain Falcon said, wrapping up his report to the group. "And when he finished, Link was just gone."

"And his trophy?"

"Nowhere to be seen," said Falcon. Silence enveloped the bridge of the Halberd like a heavy cloak.

Finally, Samus began to speak again. "All right. The situation is much more dire than we thought. If these people can summon these attacks at will and do that much damage, we'll have to be a lot more careful in our attacks."

Ganondorf stood up from the conference table. "Careful? We took out the airships, just like we planned! If we go any slower, we'll just be giving them time to prepare! I say we go ahead with the next part of the plan, and go for the construction site!"

Zelda stood up. "Don't you even care what happened to Link? We're just not strong enough to do this!"

"Maybe you're not strong enough, sweetheart, but the rest of us-"

"ENOUGH!" shouted Samus. "We've got enough problems without bickering about all this. Now, Zelda is right. The construction site is too close to their main base. We'll have to go for points C and D first before we have enough of a foothold to go for the site."

Ganondorf folded his arms. "Fine. You children can go along at this snail's pace, but we need that station to get the radar dish up. I want to find out where he is, and I'll do it myself if you won't!"

Bowser stood up next to him. "I second that emotion."

"Thirded!" belted out Wario.

Samus sighed. They weren't going to get anywhere with these three villains interrupting every other second. "Very well. Dedede, go with them. Make sure they don't do anything stupid."

"Yes, ma'am," the king said, saluting to her.

"Now, the next order of business. We'll need two teams to take out points C and D on the double. If these people are halfway capable, they'll be preparing defenses, and those two places are the most strategic. In light of recent events, we should get larger teams together to be prepared for the unexpected.

"Samus," a voice spoke up.

"Yes, Mewtwo?" Samus said, turning to her side.

"I have discussed it with the rest of my kind, and the seven of us would be happy to take point C."

"Very well, Mewtwo-"

"But I will require the three under his control," Mewtwo said, pointing at Ash abruptly, "Without his interference."

Ash stumbled backwards, put off by the intensity in Mewtwo's voice. "Sure, if you want," Ash said. He took out his three Pokeballs. Almost immediately, they were telepathically lifted out of his hand and opened, releasing Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard. Everyone knew Mewtwo didn't care for the Pokeballs.

"Then we will be off at once," Mewtwo said to Samus, avoiding making eye contact with Ash. Around him, Jigglypuff, Lucario, Pikachu, and Ash's three Pokémon cheered in assent.

_"Chu! Chu!"_

They all turned to Pichu, who was bouncing up and down energetically. Clearly he wanted to go on this mission, too.

Ash petted Pichu on the head. "Sorry, Pichu. You're too young to go on this mission."

"The human is correct, little one. You are not yet in control of your powers, and are ill-prepared to come with us," Mewtwo said in a fatherly tone.

Pichu slumped back, sad.

"Don't worry, Pichu. I'll play with you until they get back," Ash said brightly. Pichu seemed happy enough about this. Mewtwo was not, but he realized that this was probably the best alternative.

"Very well, human. See that he is not harmed." And with that, Mewtwo strode off, the other Pokémon trailing behind him.

Samus watched this exchange rather uneasily. Mewtwo was certainly a powerful ally, but his trust was not easily earned. If he decided to rebel, he could be dangerous to all of them.

Meanwhile, while that exchange had gone on, the others had begun discussing who would be a part of the other group. The Starfox trio had begun discussing transportation, and it seemed that everyone was busy. Everyone except Snake, who was just sitting quietly, immersed in thought.

Samus walked up to him. "What's on your mind, Snake?"

Snake, weighing his options, decided that he could trust Samus.

"My boss just gave me some intel on the people we're dealing with. He said they were working with a PMC, and they hired an elite agent."

"And?"

"It might be someone I used to know."

"And are you friends with this someone?"

"The last I saw him, we were on good terms. But people change, and he changed quite a bit, from what I heard."

"And you said it might be him?"

"The boss said might, but he seemed pretty certain." Snake shifted uneasily. "I just hope he was wrong."

xxxxxxx

"But how could Kratos have prevented him from respawning?" Raiden said, looking across their conference table.

"Beats me, but he sure picked a hell of a time to do so," said Dante.

"Well he didn't tamper with the respawn system," Isaac said. "I just ran a diagnostic on it, it should work just fine."

"Well it isn't," Dante retorted. "Or would you like to scrape Drake off the ground and tell him he just didn't die right?"

_"Would you two ladies just shut up!"_ Cole yelled. "In case you two weren't listening, there's a battleship out there that shot down Columbia, and I think that's more important than your bickering!"

The two settled down. Cole would often be kind in his demeanor, but he had a nasty side.

At the head of the table, Raiden resumed talking. "Right, then. Let's try to figure out some basic facts. Drake is dead, Kratos has gone rogue, and a warship managed to take out most of Colombia in a single pass. These guys hit like a freight train and took out our first line of defense. They could've been on our doorstep hours ago, but something stopped them. Why?"

"Caution," offered Cole. _"Or cowardice."_

"Yes, perhaps. Maybe Kratos spooked them, or maybe they realized we were tougher than they thought. In either case, their next step would be to fortify their position. Now, there's three places where they could reasonably attack and fortify themselves. They might go for Alden's Tower, here," he said, pointing to one location on a large map behind them. "Metropolis would also be a likely target. And over here – no, they wouldn't strike here, unless…"

An idea occurred to him, a strange idea. But there was no time for flights of fancy, not now. Still…

"Right then," Raiden said, turning back to the group. "We'll have to be quick about this if we want to catch them by surprise. Dante, you're on reconnaissance. I want to know when that ship comes back and where it goes. You're the best at traversing the terrain.

"Jak, Ratchet. Grab your partners and head for Metropolis. Take the big guy with you, he could use some exercise.

"Cole. You and the cats take the tower. You'll want to get on top of it, but just take the stairs this time."

"And what about me?" Isaac asked.

Raiden smiled. "Call the Head," he said, "And tell him it should be ready by tomorrow."


	3. Chapter 3: Reconnaisance

**Chapter three**

**Reconnaissance**

Well, the ship wasn't coming back anytime soon. It was just staying where it was, really. Even after five hours of waiting, the ship still hadn't moved an inch.

Dante sighed, running his fingers through his hair almost subconsciously. He wasn't sure what the thought recon would be like, but he hadn't expected it to just be staring at some small speck in the distance decidedly not moving.

What was he doing there, anyway? He should have been hunting demons, not hanging around with these strange people, beating each other up every other night.

He had long ago realized that the Head's plan didn't really rely on their fighting, it was just something for them to do while they were building. But why would you hire such a strange band of misfits like them? Why not a team of builders?

Because he knew that those other guys would come.

Of course he must have. Based on what they were building, the Head had to know somebody would come after them. But why wouldn't he warn them about these people?

WHAM!

Dante was knocked off of his feet. In all his thinking, he hadn't even noticed somebody come right up to him and knock him down. But they must've been fast, because by the time that he had gotten up, that somebody had already hidden from his view.

Dante looked around. The terrain was pretty rocky, and there were several large boulders that the attacker could be hiding behind. He wasn't going to go creeping around them, checking each one individually, of course. That sort of thing would get you killed in a heartbeat. Instead, he selected his Eryx gauntlets, walked towards the first boulder, and smashed it to pieces.

"That's how real men use cover!" he declared.

Suddenly, he heard a noise. That someone had jumped out of their hiding place and was leaping forward to attack him! With catlike reflexes, he rolled out of the way. His adrenaline kicked in, and the world slowed down. He wheeled around with his Aquila, the fastest weapon he had, to get the attacker, but to his amazement, whoever it was had already gotten out of the way.

"Man, you're pretty fast," a voice said behind him. Dante wheeled around to see a strange blue thing standing on a rock. "Of course, nobody's faster than me."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Sonic," said the thing, as if it had rehearsed this line. "Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Nice to meet you," said Dante, still wary. He had never seen anything like this hedgehog before, and it was probably one of the guys who had come over on that ship. "My name's Julio Castanuelez XVI," he said, running his fingers through his hair. "But you can call me Dante." This was not idle banter; he was trying to get this Sonic's guard down.

"Man," Sonic said, "you sure care about your hair."

"Not as much as some people."

"Well, you shouldn't try to please anybody. Me, I do whatever I want, whether people like it or not!"

"And how does that work out for you?" Dante asked.

Sonic bristled, which wasn't hard for him. "Fine."

Suddenly Dante lunged, swinging his sword at Sonic. Sonic dodged, leaping into the air and diving down. Dante parried with his sword, and Sonic began throwing out a flurry of punches and kicks. Dante blocked them easily, and Sonic changed tactics. He began to run around in circles, kicking up a cloud of dust. Dante tensed, preparing. Soon enough, Sonic leaped at him again, and Dante could see that he had curled into a ball.

BOOM!

Sonic was knocked backwards by the force of Dante's shotgun. Recovering his composure in midair, he landed on his feet, but kept a good distance. Dante held his sword up in a defensive stance.

Dante and Sonic began circling each other, keeping their guards up. Dante struck up another conversation to try and get his guard down. "So you're one of them?" Dante said, gesturing in the direction of the Halberd.

"Yeah."

"Do they all, uh, look like you?"

Sonic snorted. "They wish. I'm one of a kind."

"And what do you call yourselves?" Dante asked, more interested than he let on.

Sonic pepped up. "That's easy. We're the Super Smash Bros.!" Sonic said in the same tone of voice with which he had announced his name.

"Really. You see, if I had a name like that, I wouldn't exactly be trumpeting it to the heavens."

"Well, what do you guys call yourselves?"

Dante thought about it. What did they call themselves? They hadn't exactly been a team for that long, and names hadn't really come to mind. He lowered his sword for just a moment, thinking about it.

Sonic saw a window of opportunity. Or so he thought.

As he leaped up, Dante released his Aquila blades, throwing them into Sonic. He fell to the ground, stunned. "You know what your problem is?" Dante said, pulling out Osiris and continuing his combo. "All you have is speed," he continued, launching Sonic into the air with Eryx. "You need to balance that out with range," he started, pulling out Ebony and Ivory, their bullets keeping him aloft. "Versatility," he continued, pulling out Osiris again and spinning it around, catching Sonic in a whirlwind of blades as he fell. "And power!" he finished, grabbing his Arbiter and hitting Sonic square in the chest.

WHAM!

The resulting impact launched Sonic much farther than Dante had expected it to; in fact, it knocked him far into the sky. He had no idea that his combo, besides earning a triple S rank, had increased Sonic's percentage to around 500%. All he knew that his foe was now in another county.

He looked around the ground and found, to his surprise, that Sonic had not spilled a drop of blood. There was, however, a circle of golden rings along the ground.

"Shame," Dante said aloud. "I kind of liked that guy." Then he ran off to the main base, ready to tell them all he had learned.

xxxxxxx

Sometime later, Sonic came to consciousness, still a little groggy from his latest beating. He pulled his last ring from his pocket, grateful that he had managed to hold on to it. He looked around and discovered that he had landed in a sea of clouds.

Suddenly Pit burst through a nearby cumulous, flying as fast as he could. "Are you okay?" he asked, kneeling down to Sonic's height. "I was watching the battle from afar."

Sonic stood up. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, the swagger returning to his voice almost immediately.

"It looked like you took quite a beating there."

"Yeah, but when I hit him, I got this," Sonic said, holding something out. It was a small power orb, gently glowing.

"What is it?" asked Pit.

"I don't know. We'll have to ask the doctor," Sonic said, starting to run towards the Halberd.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I couldn't think of a good way to end this chapter, so here's the Song of Time.

—-—-—-—-—-—-

—►-—-—-►-—-—-

—-—-▼-—-—-▼—

-—-Ⓐ-—-—-Ⓐ—-—


	4. Chapter 4: Energy and whatnot

**Chapter four**

**Energy and whatnot**

Everyone gathered around the testing chamber, watching the doctor run his experiments. Finally, he emerged. "So what is it, doctor?" Samus asked.

"What it is, is energy," Dr. Mario said. "Kinetic energy, to be precise, encapsulated in a small, portable unit. I believe that this Dante had this stored inside him, and that when Sonic hit him it was released."

"How could that be?" asked Samus.

"Well, I'm not sure, but I think this is how that man on the plane grew to such size without the use of a Final Smash ball.

"Mind you, this is just a theory. I'll need a volunteer to test it. Ah, yes, Mario, would you step up, please?"

Mario walked out of the crowd. Samus was still a little confused about this. Everybody had thought the doctor was just Mario's alter-ego, but they were clearly two separate entities. To top it off, the doctor didn't even have an Italian accent.

But no matter. Mario walked up to the podium the orb was resting on. "Now, if you would be so kind as to attack the power orb?"

Mario did so, laying into the orb with a series of punches and kicks. The orb began to grow and pulsate. Finally, with one final attack from Mario, the orb transformed.

The group gasped, just like the audience did when a Final Smash appeared. For this was a Final Smash ball – but not quite. They could all see the difference: this one was not so bright and flashy as the usual ones, and didn't even have the energy to move around.

"Continue," Dr. Mario said, and Mario resumed his onslaught. As he attacked, the Smash Ball grew brighter and more energetic until it resembled the normal Final Smash ball, at which point Mario crushed it and harnessed its power.

"There," the doctor said. "This is how they use their Final Smashes. From what I can see, they must have multiple tiers of Smashes, which would imply that if we obtain our Smashes from fighting, so could we."

The crowd was clearly impressed. After all, who wouldn't be? Multiple Smashes, and a new way to obtain them!

"But for the time being, I will need that back," the doctor said. "Donkey Kong, would you kindly?"

Donkey Kong approached Mario, winding up his fist. Mario cringed. Science was painful.

xxxxxxx

Kratos leaped up from the wreckage of his downed airship. Well, he hadn't taken that battleship out. Quite the opposite, really. But he had done some damage. He'd done some damage to one of the ship's engines, and he could see it flickering on and off. If he could get back up there, he could probably slip in if he got the timing right. But he would need another ship, and he didn't exactly see one lying around in the desert…

"That was quite a fall you took."

Kratos wheeled around, blades in hand.

"Relax," said the woman, who Kratos vaguely remembered seeing before. She was one of the fighters, and therefore had no significance at this point. Kratos began to walk away.

"Hold on," said Nariko, a little annoyed. "I'm coming with you."

Kratos turned. "You must be joking."

"Look, I saw you trying to take out that ship. You need all the help you can get."

Kratos was unconvinced. "I need no help from anyone, and even less from you."

"You pompous Spartan," Nariko said. Kratos tensed his grip on his blades. People usually called him 'Spartan' just before they tried to kill him. "You need to be taught a lesson."

They both attacked at once, sending their swords flying at each other. They collided in midair, and the battle had begun. Kratos began slashing and swiping furiously, and Nariko attacked right back.

At once, Kratos realized that this opponent was different from the others he had fought. Most attacked slowly, giving Kratos plenty of time to get a few hits in before they attacked again. However, this woman was as fast as he was, and any hit he got on her was paralleled by her.

All right. She may be fast, but she couldn't be nearly as strong as him.

He threw out his blades in such a way that they ensnared themselves with hers. They entered a tug-of-war match, but it was clear Kratos was the stronger of the two. Once he had pulled her in, a Cestus would await her.

But then, just as he was tugging her in, Nariko used his momentum to leap over Kratos. As she did so, she yanked on her chains, and the four intertwined blades collided with Kratos. Unprepared for this, he fell to the ground, momentarily stunned.

Nariko stood over Kratos, a hand outstretched to him. "Defeat, Spartan," she said, grinning.

Kratos jumped up, lashing out at Nariko again. Before, he had just meant to teach her a lesson. Now, she would lose something. An arm, maybe.

Fortunately, Kratos had one last bastion of energy. He hadn't planned on using it, but she had pushed him to the limit.

He induced his rage mode, pulling out the Blade of Olympus. He briefly registered Nariko doing the same, but his fury had consumed him by then, and he ran towards Nariko, using all of his energy to swing his sword.

The swords clashed together, releasing their energy. In fact, it was too much energy, and the sudden release was equal to a stick of dynamite. The explosion knocked the two  
of them back, Kratos falling to the ground, Nariko being launched into the crashed airship.

For a few minutes, they lay there, panting heavily. Then they struggled to their feet, utterly exhausted. After a while, Nariko worked up enough breath to say, "A draw. Truce, Spartan?"

"Very well," said Kratos, surprised at her resolve to join him. There were not many who wished to ally themselves with him, let alone fight alongside him. It might be useful to have a partner. "And thank your gods that I did not have my full power."

"The same to you, Spartan," Nariko began, but was interrupted by a cry from above.

Some sort of monster flew above them. It had long wings, dark purple skin, and a mouth full of long, pointy teeth.

There was no question of what their next target would be.

Nariko looked at Kratos. "Try and keep up, Spartan." she said mockingly.

Now, Kratos was not one to smile, but if he had been, then the mother of all smiles would've erupted across his face.

Kratos dashed off, speeding away at a velocity no mortal had ever gone at before. Well, that was not technically true. In the end, Hermes had been quite mortal, hadn't he?

Nariko, left in the dust, was distraught, but just for a moment. That Kratos may have been fast, but he certainly wasn't smart. How, exactly, did he plan to get to that creature in the air?

Nariko turned back to the wrecked airship. Well, 'wrecked' was too strong a word. It was just mildly damaged, still capable of flight. Too bad Kratos only thought in binary: destroyed or not destroyed.

Now Nariko smiled. "Try to leave some for me, Spartan."

xxxxxxx

Fox had decided to do a diagnostics check on his Arwing. Wolf and Falco had gone off transporting the two groups, and he needed something to do.

He walked down to the hangar, but was surprised to see Snake in his Arwing, starting it up.

"Snake! What're you doing?" he yelled.

Snake opened the cockpit. "There's something down there that I hoped you all would never have to encounter. Something that I need to destroy alone."

"What are you talking about? It's dangerous to go alone!" Fox yelled.

"I'm, sorry, Fox. This is beyond any of you. I have to do it alone."

"No, you don't! You'll need some help! I'm coming, and that's final!"

The tranquilizer dart hit him in the arm. Within seconds, Fox was feeling woozy.

"I'm sorry, Fox," Snake said as the world went black. "This is my fight."


	5. Chapter 5: Villain's Night Out

NOTE: I originally intended to have this chapter and the next as one big chapter, but several things have come up. I won't be able to upload chapters as frequently as I'd like, but I'll still stick through this to the end. Oh, and rest assured, this is going to be a long one.

**Chapter five**

**Villain's night out**

"Are we there yet?" whined Wario.

"Do you not have eyes, you antiquated anti-hero?" Bowser growled. "We're almost there!" Turning back to Ganondorf, he resumed his story. "So, most people don't come back from being hit by a train, right? But my body must've just said, 'Not today, suckers!' and then BAM! Giant again!"

"Huh, fancy that," said Ganondorf. "Three times in one adventure. And how big was this fish, did you say?"

"Hey, just ask those moles if I really did it," growled Bowser. "Oh, that's right, you can't, because I burnt them to a crisp!"

"You know, Bowser, you should try to be a bit more conniving. Get someone to think they've beaten you, then trick them into sending you somewhere you can rebuild your power. That's what I did with the Twilight realm."

"Or I just crush them."

"And how often does that turn out well for you?" Ganondorf asked sarcastically.

Bowser bristled. "Once, which is once more than you've ever won!"

Dedede looked back from the front seat of Wario's old hovercraft. "If you ask me," he said in his thick Texan accent, "you two both should try something called a 'long con'. Be nice to everybody, save their lives a couple times, then once you've got all the cards, make your move!"

Ganondorf looked at him. "And here I thought you were going soft."

"Soft? No way! I got everyone on my side, so now they all love me! It took me three timed badges to do what you two have been trying for years! Oh, speaking of, I got something for you guys." He held out a handful of timed badges. "They're a new model. They'll respawn you even if you don't get trophificated."

Ganondorf took his, smiling. "You're not so good after all, D. With these, we'll be sure to win!"

Wario spoke up. "Yeah, because villains always win, right?"

Everyone ignored him.

xxxxxxx

"What are they even building here?" Ganondorf wondered aloud as they rose up the construction site elevator.

"Who cares? Let's just set up the dish and break something."

Dedede looked at them. "Do you guys really think he could be back?" he said worriedly.

Ganondorf snorted. "Wouldn't surprise me."

"We haven't seen any Subspace areas, though."

"Yeah, because the idiot made it so only the ROBs could activate them," Bowser said.

"Well, he could be building a new-"

"He won't be building anything after we kill him!" Bowser said vehemently.

"We're here," said Ganondorf as they reached the top floor.

They walked out across the top of the construction site, looking for a good place to place the dish. Bowser held the dish in his hand, a small thing that Snake had thought up. It fit in the palm of his hand, but it could theoretically find Tabuu if he decided to show his ugly mug again.

"Hold it right there, villains!" a voice rang out.

The four of them turned. Two people were standing on a nearby girder: A skeleton in a knight's outfit and a little boy with a butterfly net. "You shall go no further!" the little boy shouted.

Ganondorf laughed. "Look, kid, you're no match for us. It's four against two, and we're all way too powerful for you."

He didn't hear the sound of little hands climbing the girders, didn't see the little figures scampering across the undersides of the I-beams.

"Why don't you two just run along," Ganondorf continued. "We're out of your league, so just let us do what we came here to – AAUGH!"

Hundreds of monkeys swarmed over him, grabbing at him, nibbling, attacking. He wasn't prepared for anything like this, and he fell from the girder, despawning instantly.

The other three villains, seeing this, quickly sprang into action. Wario ran towards the kid, while Dedede and Bowser simultaneously leapt into the air. They both came crashing down at once, and the force of their impact knocked all of the monkeys off the girder. This done, Dedede ran to attack the skeleton, hammer out.

"I will spay you, vile beast!" the skeleton said, holding his sword aloft.

Dedede stopped. "You're gonna spay me?" he said, confused.

Sir Daniel stopped. "Uh, best make that 'slay' you, vile beast."

Dedede resumed his attack, guarding his undercarriage, just in case. He swung his hammer in an overhead swing, but Daniel blocked it with his sword. The two went back and forth, swinging at each other, while Wario ran towards Spike.

Wario jumped, but Spike outmaneuvered him, swinging out quickly with his Stun Club. He hit Wario in the face, knocking him back for just a moment. While he was picking himself up, he said, "If you think you'll beat me with a stick and a butterfly net, you're wrong."

"It doesn't catch butterflies," Spike said, bringing out the net.

"Oh? And what does it catch?" Wario said, leaping into the air and slamming down towards the kid.

As quick as lightning, Spike brought the net up, snaring Wario and launching him into a large cage they had prepared. "You."

Within just a short time, Bowser and Dedede suffered the same fate, and soon all three were in the big cage. Spike stood in front of them, smiling. "This just goes to show you, villains! Heroes always win!"

_Not if we planted the dish while we were fighting, morons,_ Bowser thought.


	6. Chapter 6: Some fun is had

**Chapter six**

**Some fun is had**

_It had to get to the ship. Time was running out. It had to reach it. The ship might attack it, but it had to reach it._

Ridley flew off towards the Halberd, sweeping low across the desert to be more aerodynamic. His brain was not exactly large; in fact, it could usually only focus on one thought at a time, and now that mind was focused on getting to the ship at all costs. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, but it had been made perfectly clear what would happen to him if he didn't. So at first, he didn't even see the man racing after him. When the man fired a few arrows at him, Ridley barely even paused.

Then, the man threw a blade at him. It lodged in his stomach, and he paused for a moment from the unexpected pain. Kratos used his momentum to launch himself into the air, pulling out his wings to heighten his jump. He landed on Ridley's back, sinking his swords into the soft flesh.

Ridley screeched, spinning over and throwing Kratos to the ground. It flew to a higher altitude, eyes focused on Kratos. His one-track mind had been rewritten with a new purpose:

_Kill the man._

On the ground, Kratos stared up at the beast, waiting for it to make its move. He didn't have to wait long, as Ridley soon swooped down at him, talons outstretched. He dodged and lashed out with his blades, but the beast had flown away before he could even land a single hit. Again it swooped, again Kratos dodged, and again the beast swooped away.

Kratos began to get a little worried. There was no terrain to climb on, and this thing seemed to be masterfully avoiding him. He might not be able to kill it, which was pretty unprecedented for him.

"Need a lift, Spartan?" a voice called from above. Kratos looked up. That woman, Nariko, was flying overhead in the little airship that had crashed. Without a moment's wait, Kratos latched onto the airship and pulled himself up.

Nariko lounged at the controls. "So, what do you think? Two against one?"

"If you so desire," Kratos responded, but he was honestly beginning to like this girl. Headstrong, capable, and determined – she would've made a good Spartan.

Ridley turned his head towards the airship, roaring. A stream of fire erupted from his mouth, aimed directly for the airship. Nariko swerved away, and Kratos jumped off. Extending his chains, he hooked onto Ridley's jaw, flying through the fire briefly before swinging up onto Ridley's head.

Ridley spun around again, trying to throw Kratos off, but it was in vain, as Kratos held tight. Stabilizing, he clawed at the top of his head quickly, trying to scratch Kratos off. He dodged, but Ridley managed to scrape him once or twice. He held on, trying to cut deeper, but it seemed that this creature's skull was not one of his weak spots. He simply didn't have enough force to crack this skull. Unfortunately, he was pinned down by Ridley's claws, and it seemed he might not get away.

Then Nariko flew by. She flew the airship right next to Ridley and then jumped off the other side, hooking her swords onto the side of the ship. Her momentum swung her under the ship, and she released her blades at the apex of her swing, flying right towards Ridley. She caught his wing and scored her blades along the surface, tearing large gashes in it.

Ridley, no longer capable of sustaining flight, fell from the sky belly up. Kratos saw his chance. He hooked onto one of Ridley's claws, and his wild thrashing catapulted Kratos high into the air. Ridley crashed into the ground, moaning in pain. Then Kratos came down, slamming down onto the beast with his Cestus, shattering its spine. Ridley convulsed one last time, then lay still, dead.

This done, Kratos turned to Nariko in the airship, signaling her to come closer. With the beast dead and the airship active again, he could resume his chase of the battleship. Luckily, this thing had been flying right towards the ship, so he had not lost too much progress, and with Nariko now in tow it would probably-

Ridley's head lunged forward, snatching Kratos. With his last bit of strength, he swallowed the man, holding him tight in his jaws. Kratos struggled to push them open, but some sort of rigor mortis sealed the creature's mouth, holding it in place.

Then Ridley exuded steam from his nostrils, and Kratos saw a red glow coming from his gullet. Its final act would be to burn Kratos alive, and he couldn't stop it.

"YAAAAAAAAAH!"

With a strong battle cry, Nariko leapt from the airship, coming towards Ridley. She held out her swords in front of her, and impacted Ridley right in the forehead, cracking his skull. Her downward momentum dragged her down Ridley's long head, leaving two large gashes right through. Then, and only then, did the steam stop coming from his nostrils. This time, he was truly, unequivocally, dead.

For a moment, Nariko just stood there, breathless. Then she ran up to what was left of Ridley's head. "Kratos!" she yelled, pounding against the beast's fractured skull. "Kratos! Are you ok?"

WHAM!

The skull shattered into tiny fragments as a gloved fist destroyed a section of the skull inches from Nariko's head. Out came Kratos, a little worse for the wear but still very much alive.

"You saved me," Kratos said.

"Just in time, too," Nariko responded, regaining her composure. "Any longer and we'd all have to call you the Roast of Sparta."

Kratos frowned.

Then he stopped frowning.

He smiled.

He began to laugh.

He kept on laughing, sending deep, booming gales of laughter across the desert. Nariko began laughing as well. The two's laughs echoed across the sandy plains, a sound unlike any other.

Kratos was honestly surprised. He had barely smiled in years, let alone laughed, and yet here he was, laughing like crazy with this woman. Was it all her personality that was doing this? Was her influence on him really one that inflicted such joyous feelings? He hadn't encountered anybody like that since-

Beeping. Something was beeping.

Kratos stopped laughing, turning his head around to look for the source. Nariko must've heard it too, because she stopped laughing as well.

It seemed that the beeping was coming from the belly of the creature they had just slain. Now that he had time to look at it, Kratos saw a number of stitches in it, as if someone had planted something within. He hacked into the beast's flesh with his sword, reopening the incision and looking inside. And there he found the source of the beeping.

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

Quickly, he threw out his chains towards Nariko, pulling her towards him. Once he had her in his arms, he activated his Hermes boots, running away as fast as possible. He had never encountered a bomb before, but whatever the thing was, numbers ticking down usually led to some sort of trouble.

As it turned out, he was 100% correct.

The Subspace Bomb detonated, sucking the desert, Ridley, and the two warriors into Subspace. Kratos threw Nariko forward at the last second, allowing her one more second of daylight before being consumed.

xxxxxxx

Dante lounged around the conference room, cleaning his guns. What with everyone out on missions, there was really nothing to do. He was almost prepared to head out on his own, like Radec had, but he didn't have a plane like Radec, so he really had no chance of doing anything.

PaRappa walked into the room. "Is it just me, or is Sackboy out there in a giant slingshot?"

"Yep," Dante said, not looking up. "He's going to fling himself onto the ship."

"Fling himself? Why didn't he just hitch a ride with Radec?"

Dante looked up. "He didn't want to go with him. You know how Radec is, he's psychotic. Anyway, he got Isaac to aim it, and he'll be flinging himself onto the bridge."

"Huh. Fair enough. So, anyway, you wanna play DDR?"

Dante stood up. "Fine, but I pick the song this time."

"Why?"

"Because you cheat."

xxxxxxx

Peach strolled along the bridge, looking down at the ground below. Now that the dish had been set up, they were probably going to be moving soon, but for now it was all quiet.

It was nice that they had all gotten together again, even if the reason wasn't so nice. It had been six years since the Subspace incident, and they had all gone their separate ways afterwards. Some had kept in touch; for example, Peach had written to Zelda on a daily basis, but she seemed different somehow.

Anyway, they were all together, having fun, and once it was all over things would go back to normal. But for now-

CRASH!

Something landed on the Halberd deck, and Peach turned around to see what it was. She considered retreating, but she decided to handle whatever it was on her own.

Sackboy stood up, shaking himself off. He hadn't exactly landed gracefully, but at least he was on the ship. He saw the other person, a woman, standing still and looking at him. Without a moment's hesitation, he ran towards her, trying to look as menacing as possible and winding up an attack.

What he didn't expect was for the woman to grab him and wrap him in a bear hug.

"Oh, you're so CUTE!" Peach exclaimed.

Sackboy wriggled free of her grasp, confused. When he had first joined the team, he had been informed, in a derisive manner, that he was cute, but this woman was genuinely thrilled about it. Didn't she know he was supposed to be fighting her?

Well, he would just have to teach her a lesson. He picked up a cake and threw it at her, waiting for the cry of pain. Instead, she caught it in midair and put a piece in her mouth. "Yummy!" she exclaimed, oblivious to the fact that it was supposed to hurt.

Well, cake may have lost its edge, but grapple guns are forever. Sackboy took out his and pointed at the girl, firing. Just before it hit her, however, she jumped into the air…and stayed there. Logic be damned, this girl was floating in midair!

Well, two can play at that game. He activated his jetpack, blasting into the air too, and he shot towards the girl. Suddenly, and without any warning, she pulled out a little man with a big hat and waggled it in front of her. He bounced off of the man and careened into the floor. "Isn't this fun?" the girl asked as she landed.

As a matter of fact, it was, but he wasn't about to admit it. Abandoning his strategy, he ran towards her again, glowering.

Peach sighed. "You really want to fight, don't you. All right, then. Ha-cha!" And with that, she hurled herself towards him. They collided.

All at once, when Peach hit him, Sackboy experienced the most blissful feeling ever. Her collision had caused him pain, but there was an overriding wonderful feeling, a feeling of pure joy. Sackboy was overwhelmed by the sheer bliss, and he fell onto the ground.

Peach stood over him, smiling warmly. "Looks like that was too much for you, huh?" she said kindly, extending her arm out to him. Sackboy took it and got to his feet, still woozy. "Let's get you to the clinic. Then, I'll take you to meet my friend, Mario. I have a feeling you two will get along great!"

Sackboy followed her. He supposed that he still could fight, but at this point he really didn't want to. She was just so nice that any feelings of anger he had immediately dissipated. Maybe these guys weren't so bad after all.


	7. Chapter 7: A seaside romp

NOTE: Sorry for the wait. I couldn't find any good place to split this chapter up, but I think it's worth the wait. Enjoy.

**Chapter seven**

**A seaside romp**

As the sun set behind them, the group walked through the city, quietly. Well, not exactly quietly.

"I see a little silhouette of a man," sang Jigglypuff.

"Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango?" Pikachu and Ivysaur returned.

It might not seem tactical to sing out loud when you intended to go undetected, but most humans were put asleep by Jigglypuff's song. Pokémon were actually immune to this, but they just pretended to be lulled to sleep by Sing. It was a little joke between Pokémon. Mewtwo had suggested it, along with several other measures to keep the humans from knowing everything about Pokémon.

Lucario spoke up. "I suggest we increase our pace. There is something off about this city."

"Yeah," said Squirtle. "Ash is probably worried about us-"

"Then he can stay worried," snapped Mewtwo. "It is inconsequential whether he fears for you so long as you remain safe and we finish the job."

"Sorry," Squirtle said meekly.

Mewtwo spoke again, this time with a gentler voice. "Do not apologize, child. You are kind at heart, and that is good. But to risk our safety simply out of courtesy for a human, that is just another form of subjugation."

Squirtle nodded, although Mewtwo had a feeling he didn't really understand. The fact was, those three were dedicated to that boy, caring not for the fact that they were essentially his slaves. They even fought for him, purely for recreation, while he stood on the sidelines. The three said he treated them well, and he believed them, but that did not change the fact that they were happily enslaved by him.

And the boy may have been gentle, but many others sought only to use Pokémon to accomplish their ends. Rocket, Aqua, Magma, Galactic – even the supposedly kindhearted Team Plasma had only sought to abuse them. Such practices could and would continue as long as Pokémon continued to submit to this servitude.

He wouldn't lead a revolution, of course, not again. He had come to realize that, though they had enslaved him, humans did deserve to live, and massive bloodshed was no way to achieve freedom. But clearly something had to be done. Humans did not deserve to have their slaves.

Suddenly, Mewtwo stopped. "I sense someone up ahead," he said. The other Pokémon stopped in their tracks. "Show yourself, humans!"

"Humans?" a voice said. "You wish we were humans. WE wish we were humans. You have no idea how big of an improvement human would be for me!"

"Quiet, Daxter," Jak said. They emerged from the shadows, as did Ratchet, Clank, and the Big Daddy. They were a strange group, but nowhere near as strange as the seven that awaited them.

Across the street, the blue dog thing muttered something to the weird purple guy.

"Lucario says that you all have kind auras," the purple guy said. "Let us go about our business and we will not harm you."

Ratchet stepped up. "You're the ones trespassing onto our lands! You've got some nerve to be giving us ultimatums!"

"So be it," Mewtwo said, and the two groups moved to clash.

"I call the pink one!" Daxter said. "All right, you little puffball, I'm gonna rip you limb from – oof!" Jigglypuff rolled right into him, knocking him back several feet, and the battle had begun.

Clank leapt from Ratchet's back and ran at Pikachu, but Pikachu sent a spark at him. Clank dodged and collided with Pikachu, landing a few punches before Pikachu threw him off and zapped him with a short range charge. This briefly powered up Clank, and he used the energy to hit Pikachu a few times, but he knew that if Pikachu hit him enough times with the electricity, he would be overcharged and suffer great damage. That in mind, Clank fought on.

Jak, doing a quick headcount and realizing he would be fighting two at once, quickly focused his rifle on Lucario, while simultaneously sending out his gyro at Squirtle. The gyro seemed to be keeping him busy, but Lucario dodged the rifle shots and kept coming. Seeing that this would be a primarily physical opponent, Jak changed his tactics accordingly, timing a spin attack just in time to snare Lucario. He then scored another hit on his uppercut, but as he executed his ground pound, Lucario dodged and laid into him with a few punches and kicks. Jak countered, and the two sparred as he threw out another gyro to distract Squirtle. This would be a tough battle.

Ratchet also fought, but I was too lazy to write up another action sequence, so take my word for it.

Mewtwo levitated over to the Big Daddy, preparing to enslave him telepathically, when the Big Daddy threw a glowing green orb at him. As it hit Mewtwo, he found he had trouble holding onto his control. This thing must also have had hypnosis powers, because it was taking all of Mewtwo's mental capacity to keep fighting. But fight he did, throwing a series of energy spheres at the beast. He wasn't going to risk close range attacks, not with that drill of his.

The Big Daddy then pulled out a machine gun and started firing at Mewtwo. He caught the bullets telepathically, but he only had so much mental capacity, and the hypnosis was still pulling at him. Around him, he felt the pain of his brethren as, slowly but surely, they began losing their respective battles.

Mewtwo sent the bullets back at the Big Daddy, but the exertion dropped him to his knees. And that thing took the bullets like it was nothing! He threw another blast at the Big Daddy, but he felt his power fading. The Big Daddy took it and was knocked back momentarily, but he soon recovered. He took a needle from his pocket and charged up again, and Mewtwo saw another one of those hypnosis orbs form. He leaned back, pitched forward, and-

"Stop. I yield."

The Big Daddy stopped mid-throw, the glow in his eyes fading from red and turning to green.

"You have bested me in fair combat, and so I concede defeat," Mewtwo said.

For a moment the Big Daddy just stood there. Then he bent down, offering his hand to Mewtwo. Mewtwo took it, pulling himself up.

Around them, their friends slowed and stopped their fighting, except for Daxter, who was still futilely clawing at Jigglypuff. "I could still kick your-" he said, collapsing in front of her.

"I must say, you guys certainly know how to fight," Jak said.

Ratchet was unconvinced. "Why would you yield?" he asked.

"I reached the end of my ability," Mewtwo said.

"Oh, well in that case, then we will honor your – hah!" He threw his hammer at Mewtwo, who reflexively caught it telekinetically. "See? You're nowhere near your limits!"

It was true, he had not been at his true limits. The hypnosis may have weakened him, but he had not even begun to tap into his true power. He had enough energy to obliterate all five of them.

But he had suspected – and Lucario had confirmed – that they were not villainous of heart. Also, none of them seemed to be human, and they were thus free of the racial guilt humans shared. Whether they deserved to live or not had yet to be seen, but they had bested him in a fair fight and deserved their victory.

"As I said before, we do not wish to fight."

"Oh yeah? Then why did you come here in the first place?" demanded Ratchet.

"Because our homeland was destroyed," Mewtwo responded.

The others fell silent as Mewtwo created a mental projection of the tragedy that had befallen their land.

_First fell Peach's castle. Then Hyrule Castle, Kong Island – even quiet Kanto was absorbed into the depths of Subspace. Soon our entire land was enveloped in nothingness._

_Behind all this was a being of pure power, devoid of any humanity. It was called Tabuu. They said they killed it before, but it could be none other than him. A skilled puppetmaster, Tabuu smuggled in his explosives as cake, bananas, lab equipment – anything to catch us with our guard down._

_We all escaped – I know not how – and vowed to end him once and for all. We went to his lair to confront him – and found him gone. It made no sense. He had won the world, where could he go next? Where else could he take from?_

_We followed his trail until we found that he had set his sights on another land, one not so rich as ours, but still grand. He had found another group, was preparing something, a final stroke to prove his dominance over all. That group-_

"-was us!" Ratchet exclaimed. "We're the next target?"

"Indeed."

"Well, why didn't you just tell us that?" Jak asked. "Why start attacking us?"

"We took a look at your profiles, your teammates. Would all of you have believed us?"

They all thought about it. Kratos probably would've deemed it all an illusion, Sly never trusted anyone, Cole solved half his problems with violence, and after what the Head had promised Radec, he would fight to the grave to defend what they were doing. "No, I suppose not."

"Far better, then, to take you all out, to incapacitate any resistance we might meet, to reanimate you after the matter and explain." Mewtwo lowered his head. "But this was a flawed plan from the start. We fought when we could have at least tried to collaborate. And for that, I will apologize.

"And now we find ourselves short on time. If we band together now we can-"

Mewtwo was interrupted by a sudden rumbling. The groups turned as, behind them, a building collapsed into the ocean below it. From the wreckage rose a giant serpent, followed by a second and a third, both smaller than the first. The Hydra had awoken.

The group turned to this beast, then ran towards it, beginning their attacks. As they did so, Jak turned to Mewtwo. "Go ahead, keep talking," he said, pulling out his rifle and shooting at the second head.

"What?" said Mewtwo, confused. "Shouldn't we be fighting that thing?

"No reason you can't keep talking."

"We call it 'action-packed exposition'," Daxter said. "Adds a little excitement to a boring talky segment."

"Very well then," Mewtwo said, charging up an aura ball. "If we band together now," he resumed, launching the ball at the middle hydra's head, "we will be able to stop him before your land is destroyed as well." The left head lunged at him, but he jumped out of the way in time, and Ivysaur and Squirtle hopped onto its head.

Pikachu began charging, while Charizard flew up to join the other two starters. Jack and Ratchet ran towards the right head, partners on their backs. Mewtwo and the Big Daddy charged at the lead head, and it unleashed an icy breath on them. "Fortunately, we have a plan," Mewtwo said, using his aura to melt the ice quickly. "One of our other teams has placed a small satellite dish-" he paused to dodge a quick lunge of the head- "that will allow us to find him." The Big Daddy powered up his drill, sinking it into the exposed head. Blood and a scream of pain came out.

"So you can find him right now?" Ratchet asked, firing at the right head's eyes. The head reached forward to breath an icy breath on him, which allowed Jak to launch Daxter onto its face. He planted an explosive on its eye and jumped away as it exploded, partially blinding the beast. "I thought he was in Subspace."

"Most likely," responded Mewtwo, jumping into the air and levitating, distracting the Hydra while the Big Daddy emptied his guns into the Hydra. "But everything that comes from Subspace leaves a trace." On the left head, Charizard flew around the head, confusing it, while Ivysaur did all the damage it could on its forehead. The head tried to breathe on Charizard, but Squirtle sent up a big wave, redirecting the breath. "A trace that our device can track." Jigglypuff rolled into the neck of the left head and used Rest three consecutive times, knocking it far back. "Once we find it, we should be able to stop it before he can make his move."

Suddenly, the hydra's two smaller heads reared up and slammed down around Mewtwo, separating him from the others. He tried to levitate out, but the main head's icy breath froze him in place. Quickly, he thawed himself out, just in time for the main head to smash down on top of him, smashing him into the ground. Dazed, Mewtwo could only watch as the head came towards him, jaws wide open. In just a few seconds, it had overwhelmed him, and now it was time for the kill.

Then the Big Daddy leapt onto the top of its head, sinking its drill into the hard skull. The hydra writhed, splashing about trying to get him off. Mewtwo jumped to safety, trying to lift the Big Daddy out of harm's way, but he was extremely determined to hold on. Finally, the hydra threw its head up, launching him high into the sky, and then catching him in his mouth, swallowing him whole.

Fortunately, this was the point when Pikachu reached his full charge. "Pika…" he began, running off the ground and into the water. The others, seeing him do this, quickly got out of the water.

_CHUUUUUUUUUUUU!_

The resulting shockwave emanated throughout the water, frying everything unfortunate enough to be in it, which was just the Hydra. It spasmed and shook, emitting a cry unlike any other as the electricity coursed through its body. Finally, it crashed to the ground, moaning one last moan as its dead heads slithered off the platform and into the sea.

"Oh no you don't!" Mewtwo dove after it, shooting down into the deep and straight into the Hydra's open maw. The others watched, mouths open. Squirtle tried to dive after them, but Lucario held him back, seeing some errant electricity on the water.

For what seemed like an eternity, they just stood there. Then Lucario saw something coming up, and soon the rest saw as well.

Mewtwo erupted from the water, with the Big Daddy carried behind him. He landed on solid ground, coughing. The others gathered around him, but he quickly stood up and rushed to the Big Daddy's side. Daxter looked at Jak. "The big guy's gonna be okay, right?" he said, trying to sound confident.

"He probably can't breathe too well with that helmet on," said Ratchet. "Let's get it off him." He and Jak moved to do just that, unfastening the hinges on his diving helmet. They pulled the helmet off, and perhaps Mewtwo was the most surprised by what he saw.

It was just a man. Nothing special about him, just a plain, ordinary human. Mewtwo hadn't known what to expect, but all the others were definitely not of human origins. Yet this was a normal man who had risked his life to save Mewtwo. He opened his eyes now, and looked around. He stood up and, without a word, held out his hand. Mewtwo shook it, impressed. Honorable, brave, and now self-sacrificing – traits not completely absent from humans, but never had he seen one exemplify them all so clearly.

The Big Daddy turned around, picked up his helmet, and placed it back on his head. With that, the battle was over. Jak put his hand on the Big Daddy's shoulder. "Nice fighting, big D."

Ratchet looked at the setting sun. "We'd better hurry. Rally your team, we should get to your battleship before morning."

"Why?" Daxter asked. "What's the hurry?"

"Because tomorrow morning, it goes online."


	8. Chapter 8: Duality

Another long wait, another long chapter. Hope it was worth it.

**Chapter eight**

**Duality**

The elevator was ascending at a snail's pace, but at least they were almost at the top. Cole was sitting back in the corner, while Sly and Toro stood at the front. _"Take the elevator, he said,"_ Cole growled. _"What was that, the third loading screen?"_

"I could've climbed up the outside twice in this time!" Sly complained.

"Well, at least we're almost at the top," Cole said, suddenly in a reserved tone. _"Yeah, yeah,"_ he responded, angry again. _"Listen, I know you don't like the killing that much, so when the time comes, leave that to me, okay?"_

Toro and Sly looked at each other. It was clear that he wasn't talking to them. They were beginning to get concerned about him, talking to himself all the time like that.

Suddenly, the elevator jerked to a stop. The lights flickered off, leaving them confused and in the dark.

_"What?"_ Cole yelled. _"You have to be joking me! We were almost at the top!"_ "Maybe we can still get out. Sly, help me pry these doors open." He did so, and they found a small opening at the top led out to open air.

"I can get through that," Sly said. He squeezed through the opening and was suddenly on the roof.

"Alright, Sly, it's a little late for lookout duty, but do you see anybody out there?" Cole asked.

"Hold on, just let me get a look around – yes, I see three guys with swords," came the response from above, "and one bird-guy."

"How close?"

"Pretty close."

_"Damn it, Sly, that's not descriptive enough! Take a rough guess, in miles, how far they are from this-"_

"Hey, do you guys need a hand over there?"

Cole sighed. _"Sly, are they on the tower?"_

"As a matter of fact…"

Cole grunted, firing a blast of red lightning down, shooting through the floor and down the elevator shaft and propelling the elevator up the last few feet. Toro cringed, but the lightning turned blue and dissipated around him, leaving him safe.

Cole leaped out of the elevator, looking at the three swordsman. _"How did you get up here so quickly?"_

Falco stepped forward. "We flew," he said, pointing at the Great Fox.

_"Well, you should've just kept on flying!"_ Cole launched a bolt of lightning at Falco, but he reflected it, blasting it back at him. Cole dodged easily, and the two teams moved in to fight.

Sly, sizing up his opponents, pulled out his crook and leapt towards Roy. The two clashed, Sly jumping around and sending out a barrage of attacks while Roy stood relatively still, guarding. Sly tossed an alarm clock at Roy, but he jumped out of the way in time, coming down on Sly. However, he quickly teleported out of the way, catching Roy off guard with a quick barrage of attacks. Sly attempted to launch him into the air, but Roy countered and parried with a powerful slash that sent him across the floor. Sly recovered quickly and ran back towards Roy. He may have strength, but agility always beat strength.

Toro, jumping out of the elevator, ran at Falco in Justice Toro form. Falco kicked, and Toro countered with a kick of his own. Toro then sent out a flurry of punches, which Falco rolled away from. Falco then dashed at Toro, knocking him off his feet. When he tried to dash again, however, he slammed right into Oni Toro's hammer. He tried to recover, but Torobi laid into him with a series of ninjitsu attacks. Finally, Falco was able to roll away, and the two sparred.

Cole looked at his two opponents. They weren't too intimidating, and they each held long greatswords. Not the best thing to have in a lightning storm…

Suddenly, his IPhone rang. The Head had given them all one to keep in touch, but it usually just got in the way. This time, it was that kid Jak calling. He answered irritably. _"What do you want, prettyboy? I'm a little busy!"_

"Listen, Cole. Do not fight the outsiders. They are not the enemy. Repeat, they are not the-"

Cole hung up. It seemed nobody understood the rules of combat but him. You keep fighting until everyone is dead.

Looking back up, he leapt at Ike, who pulled his sword back, charging up a heavy swing. As his sword came down, however, Cole caught it with both hands, sending a large jolt of electricity down it and shocking Ike. He fell to the ground, badly wounded.

Marth immediately dropped his defensive guard to run to Ike's aid, opening him up for a quick blast from Cole. Marth stumbled, but he still made it to Ike, who was still breathing.

_"See, there's the proof of my philosophy," _Cole said. _"Let your guard down to help someone else, and you end up getting hurt."_ He charged up his powers, the arc lightning coursing through his fingers. _"And now this ends."_

Red lightning flew from his fingers, arcing towards the two swordsmen with deadly intent. But just before it reached them, it turned blue, arcing away from them and grounding itself safely into the tower.

_"I said DON'T INTERVENE!"_ Cole shouted to nobody in particular, causing the other fighters to stop and look at him. He threw a projectile at Marth and Ike, but he suddenly shot it out of the air, blasting it to pieces. _"Stop fighting me!"_ he screamed, though nobody was.

"Jak said that they were not our enemy," he said, seemingly responding to himself.

"Wait, he did?" Sly asked.

_"I don't care! They're in my way!"_ he responded.

"They're innocent!"

_"So was Trish!"_

The other six stared at him, unsure of what was going on.

_"I have had enough of you holding me back!"_ Cole continued.

"I won't let you harm them!" He placed his hands on either side of his head, and his palms glowed blue. 20,000 volts coursed through his brain, and red and blue lightning radiated from his body. The others could only watch in awe.

Suddenly, all the red lightning shot out of him at once, coming together in a pulsing ball of energy, and Cole collapsed.

Marth cautiously stepped forward, keeping his guard up. He prepared to roll Cole over to check for vitals, when he suddenly snapped his head up, breathing heavily. Marth jumped back, but it seemed that he meant no harm.

"Cole, are you okay?" Sly asked.

Cole stood up. "I'm sorry," he said, looking at them. "I shouldn't have let him take control in the first place.

"Him? Who's him?"

Suddenly, a shout came from behind them. They looked and saw that the ball of lightning was still there, pulsating. Suddenly, it was growing, shaping itself. It formed a torso, arms, legs, and a head.

A head that looked all too familiar.

Cole turned to the others. "You need to get out of here. All of you, go."

"But-"

"Just go! He's more powerful than all of you!" Cole insisted urgently.

They all ran into the Great Fox, preparing to take off. The figure that had emerged from the ball of lightning shot a bolt at them, but Cole caught it with a blast of his own, grounding it on a nearby TV aerial. While he was doing this, the figure shot a blast at him, knocking him down.

Evil Cole laughed. _"You see? Your emotions make you weak. That's why I'll always be stronger than you!"_

Cole got up and quickly shot a few bolts of lightning. Evil Cole destroyed them easily, and sent a bolt of arc lightning at Cole. Cole countered with a blast of his own, and the two had a power struggle. Soon, it became clear that Evil Cole was going to win, and he began to taunt.

_"You see, this is the consequence of shying away from power. Every decision you made, every mistake I failed to prevent you from making, made you weaker. In fact, if it wasn't for me, we'd both be dead! But now, we shall see that strength always wins!"_

Cole got out of the power struggle and jumped away from the ensuing blast of lightning. _He's right,_ Cole realized. _He has more power than I ever could have. I can't win._

_Well, then, I guess I'll just have to lose with style._

Cole began running towards his evil doppelganger. Evil Cole shot a bolt of lightning at him, but it didn't even slow him down. He then blasted him with a constant beam of lightning, but Cole still kept coming. Evil Cole took a step back, and his foot nearly slipped off the side of the tower. Immediately, he realized what was about to happen. Cole was planning to slam into him, knocking them both off the tower!

He tried again to stop Cole with another blast, but it seemed nothing would stop him. Evil Cole realized that this was do or die. He summoned his power – all his power – into one final charge. Then, just before Cole reached him, he let it fly.

EAAAAAAAAAUGH!

Cole screamed as a huge torrent of red and black lightning coursed from Evil Cole, stopping him dead in his tracks. When the lightning stopped, Cole collapsed, feet away from where Evil Cole stood.

Evil Cole laughed. He had won. He'd proven that he was the superior of the two, and quite soundly defeated his weaker half. He was now completely out of power, but that didn't bother him. Without goody two-shoes holding him back, he could just leech some life from whoever he pleased.

He then bent over his good counterpart, looking for a heartbeat. He hadn't been planning on killing him, at least not right away, but he had been caught up in the heat of the moment.

He needn't have worried, however, as Cole's heart was beating just fine. In a few seconds, Cole's eyes flickered open. Immediately, Evil Cole grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up. Cole tried to struggle, but it was no use.

_"I always knew this day would come,"_ he cackled. _"The day when I would overcome your pathetic personality and have my very own body. And now, I even get to watch it."_

Suddenly, Cole started laughing. "No, my friend," he gasped. "This is the end of both of us."

_"Oh, really?"_ Evil Cole scoffed. _"And tell me, friend, how will we be going out?"_

"The same way we came in," Cole said. "Together."

With that, he threw his arms behind him and blasted out, in one shot, every last spark of electricity within him.

Even the ones keeping him alive.

For you see, that was the thing about Evil Cole. Even as he used all of his power, he did not do anything that might bring him harm. Looking out for number one, that was how he went. But Cole, Cole was willing to sacrifice all that he was to defeat the evil, and that willpower was what tipped him over.

The two hurtled over the edge, Evil Cole's hands still wrapped around Cole's neck, though Cole's life had already been snuffed out. _"How could you beat me?"_ he demanded, yelling at Cole's lifeless face. _"How did you gain the power to defeat the mighty Cole McGrath?"_

He never got an answer, because the two of them slammed into the ground, sending their souls to the darkest of depths, the deepest pit of the underworld, the hellhole that only one man had ever escaped from before.

They fell to Hades.


	9. Chapter 9: Free Radecal

**Chapter nine**

**Free Radecal**

Radec marched around the ship's underbelly, keeping wary for any attackers. Not that there were any; in fact, he had gotten to and on the ship relatively unopposed. This could be his greatest conquest yet; taking down this heavily armed and fully staffed battleship without firing a single shot.

The reason, he suspected, was that the ship was made for combat with other ships. His own seemed diminutive in comparison, and this battleship would've torn it to pieces. So instead, he had opted to silently board it instead.

Now two of his three charges had been placed, but if there was any opposition on this ship, it would be in this third place. Though he had already planted charges on the engines and left wing, he hadn't gotten to where he was just assuming that doing things half-assed would be enough. No, his third charge was going on the main reactor, just to be perfectly sure.

Suddenly, he heard movement. Radec wheeled around, but nobody seemed to be there. Looking around, he saw a nearby doorway. On a hunch, he entered, keeping a wary eye for people. Suddenly, through another doorway, he saw a flash of red – somebody had just run through it. Quickly, he started to pursue, running after the mysterious person.

Maybe it wasn't necessary to the mission, but this person could come around and ambush him or blow his cover if he just let it go. Besides, it was about time he got to kill someone.

Ash ran, glancing behind him to see if the strange man was following him. He had to get to the bridge, to warn them, but if this guy was chasing him, he might not make it there.

With his Pokémon gone, he was no match for this – or any – opponent. The best he could hope for was to find somebody who might stand a chance.

He ducked into a nearby doorway, but he found, to his dismay, that he was facing the main reactor! He must've taken a wrong turn somewhere, and now he was cornered. He hid behind the reactor, crouched down.

The man entered the doorway and laughed. "Well, Mr. mystery guest, you've managed to lead me to my destination, one way or another. That being said – oof!"

He was suddenly knocked off his feet by something that had hurled itself at him. Ash came out of his cover to find that Pichu, who must've followed him, was now battling him.

"Why, you little-" Radec began, but he was immediately shocked by a quick burst of electricity. He aimed his gun, but Pichu teleported through him, shocking him.

Ash, watching from the shadows, didn't know what to think. Suddenly, however, he saw a pained look on Pichu's face. All these electrical attacks were hurting him! In fact, as he launched an electric bolt at Radec, he started panting heavily. Radec saw this, and as he dodged the bolt, he ran straight at Pichu, knocking him to the side. He then pulled out his machine gun, ready to finish Pichu off-

"No!" shouted Ash, running in front of him. "Don't hurt him!"

"A kid," Radec said. "Nobody told me there'd be kids. Still, you are in my way. So I'll give you one chance to step aside."

Ash stood where he was, shielding Pichu.

"Very well. You asked for it." He emptied his clip, firing at the little kid.

The bullets never made it to him.

Ash opened his eyes, seeing the bullets frozen in midair. He wisely chose to step out of their path, and they flew on, hitting nothing.

"I see you, child," a familiar voice said, "and now I see your true compassion for our kind." A purple flame erupted from thin air. "I had never doubted your intentions, but only now do I see how much you truly care. Humans may not deserve their slaves, but you deserve your friends." The purple flame vanished, and Mewtwo stood in its place.

Radec turned to this new opponent. "All right, cat boy, let's see what you're made of." He pointed his machine gun at him, but Mewtwo snapped his fingers and it flew out of his hands. He ran at Mewtwo with his knife, but he snapped his fingers again and Radec flipped, crashing to the ground. "You just don't fight fair, do you?" Radec asked. Mewtwo did not respond, instead attacking him with a series of punches and kicks.

Radec analyzed this opponent. While his psychic attacks were formidable, he was clearly no fighter; these melee attacks weren't really doing anything to him. It seemed he wouldn't have too much trouble beating this guy if he could outflank him. Radec leapt over Mewtwo, pulling out his pistol and firing three shots at him. Mewtwo took the first in his shoulder as he turned, but he caught the other two, sending them back at Radec. He leapt out of the way, but then the kid jumped him from behind, wrapping his arms around Radec's throat.

It was kind of pathetic, really.

Not missing a beat, Radec threw the kid over him and onto the ground. Turning back to Mewtwo, he pulled out his flamethrower, blasting him. Mewtwo parted the flames around him, but now he couldn't see. Seizing his chance, Radec charged forward, knife in hand.

Ash saw what was going to happen first. "Mewtwo, look out!" he shouted, but it was too late. Radec charged through the flames, and before Mewtwo had time to react, he plunged his knife into his belly, shooting him a few times in the chest to be perfectly sure.

"No!" Ash shouted. Mewtwo sank to his knees, then collapsed. Furious, Ash jumped at Radec, but he easily shook him off. Pichu crouched in the corner, shivering.

"One down, two to go," Radec said. He pointed his pistol at Pichu. Ash ran in and shielded him one last time, closing his eyes as Radec unloaded his clips, waiting for the end.

It didn't come.

Ash opened his eyes and saw, yet again, that the bullets had been frozen in midair. Radec chuckled. "Still got some fight in you, puss?"

"My child," Mewtwo's voice said as his body rose up, levitating. "We have fought before, but never have I shown my limits." His body was slowly enveloped in blue light. "Now, you will see what happens when I reach my LIMITS!" A flash of blue-white light burst out, completely obscuring Mewtwo. Radec and Ash shielded their eyes. When the light died down, a new figure stood in Mewtwo's place, battle ready.

Ash looked over this new form of Mewtwo. His body was sleeker and smoother, implying greater speed. His fingers were now colored a darker purple, suggesting more power diverted to his hands. His tail had moved to his head, possibly to improve his control over it by bringing it closer to his brain, and a disc had appeared on his forehead, most likely a conduit for focusing his mental energy.

No doubt about it, this was Mewtwo's Attack form.

Radec smiled, throwing away his pistol. "Now that's more like it," he said, assuming a fighting stance. The two came together, throwing out a mix of punches and kicks. This new form of Mewtwo was easily able to keep up with Radec, matching him blow for blow and even landing a few of his own. Radec, however, was still confident. "That all you got, kitty?" he taunted, though he hardly resembled a cat anymore.

Mewtwo did not respond, but the disc on his head began to glow red, and the fire emblem appeared on it. Mewtwo's fists were engulfed in flames, and he resumed fighting. Radec, now more on the defensive than offensive, noticed that Mewtwo's blows were now more powerful, dealing more damage per punch. But he was a bit slower as well, and Radec could dodge them more easily. He came on the offensive again, throwing out a few kicks, but Mewtwo blocked them.

His disc glowed again, blue this time, and the water emblem appeared. His fingers turned blue, and his fighting style changed. He sent out a quick barrage of attacks, each one flowing smoothly into the next. He also jumped around more, fluidly moving around the room and avoiding Radec's attacks. He began hitting more, as Radec was not able to guard against him in time. Radec began to pant, and Mewtwo delivered a swift kick, knocking him to the ground.

Now his disc glowed a metallic grey, and the steel emblem appeared. His entire hands and feet turned to steel. Radec quickly got to his feet and raised his guard, but Mewtwo's first punch broke his guard immediately. He wound up for another punch, but Radec jumped out of the way. He then leapt forward, kicking Mewtwo squarely in the chest, but his metal feet didn't budge. Mewtwo wound up another punch, and this one connected squarely to Radec's face. These blows came rather slowly, and earlier Radec could've outmaneuvered him easily, but now that he was weakened, he was having real trouble.

Frantically, Radec grabbed his knife, lunging in for the kill, but Mewtwo's tentacle reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing until the blade fell to the ground. He then wrapped it around Radec's neck, lifting him off his feet, and his disc now showed the dark emblem. His fingers turned black and sharp, and he turned to Ash and Pichu. "Look away, my children," he said, "for this is not a sight for the young to see.

Ash turned, shielding Pichu's eyes. Soon Radec screamed. Ash didn't see what happened to him, but it sounded wet.

"You may look now."

Ash turned to see that Radec had despawned, and Mewtwo had returned to his normal form. He looked at Ash. "You were willing to sacrifice yourself for the child's sake," he said.

"Of course," said Ash. "That's what friends are for."

"Friends indeed. You may use my people as tools, but you do not see them as tools, but rather as equals. And I respect you for that. If one human can be so compassionate, then perhaps they all could be convinced." He offered his hand, and Ash shook it. "Perhaps there can be peace."


	10. Chapter 10: In the Inferno

NOTE: Sorry for the unusually long hiatus. A trip to Australia will do that to a man. Things should be back on a more standard schedule by now. Also, I had to split the next chapter into two parts just so I could get this out in time. Enjoy.

**Chapter ten**

**In the inferno**

Col opened his eyes, groaning. The first thing he expected to hear was his other half shouting at him, telling him he had done wrong, berating him for all his failures. But, astonishingly, he heard nothing.

"He's gone," Cole said, hardly believing it. "I'm finally free of him!"

"All right, I guess we'll chalk that up under 'good news,'" a familiar voice said.

Cole wheeled around and saw Drake, leaning against the bars of a large cage he was contained within. "The bad news? You're in hell."

Cole looked around at his surroundings. It seemed Drake was right, for all around him there were infernal fires and screams. He, too, was trapped in a cage, as well as two strangers: A young boy in green, and a creepy man in a dark cloak. Cole looked around with amazement. "So this is where you go when you don't respawn," he said, awestruck.

But there were more important matters at hand. He turned to Drake. "Listen, we have to get out of here."

"Oh, really? Should we do that? We were thinking of starting a bridge tournament down here," Drake said sarcastically.

"Would you just shut up?" Ganondorf yelled.

Suddenly, there was a shout, and from above a body fell.

"Oh, boy, another one," Drake said. "This'll make five. We could start a poker game."

"Would you quit it with the cards?" Ganondorf yelled.

They all watched as the new person fell into an open cage, which then sealed itself. A large mechanism then dropped the cage next to the others, and the person inside stood up. He turned to them.

"Zeus?" Cole said, surprised. "Where have you been?"

"I tried to stop him," Zeus said. "He wants to kill us all!"

"Who, Kratos?" asked Drake. "Because that's pretty much normal around here."

Zeus turned to him, thunder in his eyes. "Not him. The Polygon Man."

Ganondorf scratched his head. "Who's the Polygon Man?"

"Nobody truly knows. He seemingly came from nowhere, and everything about him is shrouded in mystery," Cole said.

"And you never figured out he was a villain?" Ganondorf said.

Ignoring him, Zeus continued. "It was he who destroyed the respawn system. He wishes to draw us into darkness. Soon all these cages will be filled with the rest of us, and he will make his move on the world. He is pure evil, and he will not stop until-"

"Cut it out, will you?" Drake interrupted.

"I beg your pardon?"

"We get it. He's evil, that's all you need to say. We don't need a long-winded monologue on his evil-ness, we just have to get out and stop him. That's all you have to say!"

"You are a petulant child," Zeus retorted angrily.

"And you're an old geezer who needs a haircut," Drake shot back.

Link, meanwhile, had stayed silent the whole time, surveying the area around him, looking for a way out. The cage he was in seemed impregnable, at least to his weapons. But now he saw something that could use: A grapple point on a statue nearby, and another, opposite that.

And beyond that, something that could help tremendously.

He grappled to one point, rocking the cage a bit from the pull it provided. As it rocked back, he grappled to the other, increasing the rocking motion. He repeated this process, rocking the cage back and forth, until it finally fell with a crash. The others stopped their bickering and looked at his cage, which was now lying on its side.

The problem was, he didn't really know what to do next. He had been hoping the cylindrical cage would start rolling, but it wasn't, and he didn't have anything that could start it rolling. Not his spinner, his ball & chain, his Goron mask – wait, what?

He pulled out the mask, confused. When had he picked this up, and why? Then, he noticed a note on the back.

_You won't find this in the books, but I used this to save the world once. Use it well._

The Hero of Time, perhaps? Link had read the legends, and had personally learned many sword techniques from him, but when had he ever used masks?

Link put the mask on, rather confused. Suddenly, dark colors swirled around his field of vision, and he felt an intense pain in his head. Link screamed, clapping his hands to the side of his head.

Just as suddenly as it came, the pain left. Link looked up and saw the others staring at him, looks of bewilderment on their faces. "When'd you learn to do that?" Ganondorf murmured. Then he looked down at himself, only to find, to his amazement, that he had been transformed into a Goron!

No time to question it, though. He'd found the dungeon item, and he knew exactly what to do with it. Curling into a ball just as he had seen them do so long ago, he began to roll, spinning his body and grinding against the cage bars, trying to get it to move.

And move it did, rolling away from the others and towards what he had seen. The problem was, now he had no way of stopping.

That is, until the spikes came out.

The spikes caught in the cage bars acted like an emergency brake, pulling the cage to a halt just in front of what he had seen.

A giant golem with a hammer in its hand.

Returning to his original form, Link backed to the edge of the cage, pulling out the Dominion Rod as he did so. He then enchanted the statue and raised the rod high above his head. Of course, he had done this exact same thing many times before – but before then, he had not been directly in harm's way. He'd have to be very gentle about this.

Cautiously, carefully, Link brought the Dominion Rod down.

CRASH!

The other four watched silently as the stone hammer smashed through the cage, tearing the bars to smithereens. They stared at the rubble, hoping.

Then Link climbed out of the cage, unharmed. The others cheered. All except for Ganondorf, who simply said, "All right, now the rest of us."

He stopped when he realized what that entailed.

As Link walked towards Ganondorf's cage, giant golem still in tow he realized he'd need to change his tactics a bit. The golem had smashed his cage on the bars, a natural weak point, but these ones would need to be taken from the top, which was much sturdier. He'd need to hit harder.

Ganondorf smiled weakly. "No hard feelings, right?"

Much harder.

(P.S. I've been told I have problems with pacing. Any suggestions as to what I'm doing wrong?)


	11. Chapter 11: From the inferno

**Chapter eleven**

**From the inferno**

The five heroes, freed from their cages, now dashed through Hades, towards the exit. Zeus led the way, explaining as he went.

"With so many people dying in this world, Hades created a high capacity lift to bring down more people at once. We should be able to use it to escape," he said.

"Well, that's convenient," Drake said.

"Indeed," agreed Zeus.

As they ran, Link looked around at the terrain around them. The souls of the damned toiled away, but also visible were other figures, angry creatures with swords.

They were coming their way.

The others saw it too. Quickly, Link started firing arrows at the minions, but they were coming way too quickly for him to get them all.

Then Drake stepped up. "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, my dear," he said, pulling out his machine gun. The minions were quickly mowed down.

As Drake fired, Link watched him. He barely even seemed to be aiming, and yet the enemies fell far quicker that they did to his bow.

It seemed kind of boring, to tell the truth.

As the heroes resumed their run, they saw the lift ahead of them. They ran towards it, when suddenly a large beast jumped out in front of them.

"It is Cerberus!" Zeus exclaimed.

"Ugh, we don't have time for this!" Drake said impatiently.

"Well, what else are we going to do?" Cole asked.

"How about going around it?" Drake said.

"There is no 'around it'! It's standing in the middle of a narrow passageway!"

"Then we could fight it."

"It's got too much health, we'd be here forever."

"Well, then what are we supposed to-"

"All right, let's go," Ganondorf said.

The three looked up. Cerberus was dead, and Link was now cleaning blood off his sword.

"What happened?" Cole asked.

Ganondorf looked at him funnily. "Weren't you paying attention?"

While they had argued, Link had battled the monster. When a head roared, Link threw a bomb in its mouth. That stunned it, and Link then attacked its head. Repeat three times, and it was dead.

"But how did you-"

"Come on, we're short on time!" Ganondorf yelled.

He was right, for a horde of minions was approaching them even as they spoke. They wasted no time in getting to the lift, a large octagonal platform. Immediately, as they got onto the platform, two immense chains that ran into the ground tightened, and the platform began to rise towards the open air above.

"Well, this has been fun," Drake said as the realm of man grew nearer, "But I've given it some thought, and I never want to be dead again."

"You may not get a chance," Cole said, pointing at the ground. "Look!"

Thousands of minions, more than any of them had ever seen, were pouring out of every crevasse and rushing towards them. They began attacking not the heroes, but the chains lifting them to safety. They all fired at the minions, but for every one they shot down, ten more filled their place, hurling themselves at the chains. Bit by bit, the elevator began to slow down.

Zeus turned to the others. "It seems we have little time. I will not be returning with you all. When you get back, tell my son that I-that I had no choice in what I did. Tell him that, even after all he has done…I am proud of what he has become." And with that, Zeus dove to the ground beneath them, sending out shock waves around him that stopped the minions in their tracks. In seconds he was up, smashing through the waves of grunts, protecting the chains from their assaults. It seemed unbelievable, but Zeus had sacrificed himself to save the rest of them.

And still, the chains slowed. Still, the minions attacked the chains. And Zeus fought valiantly, but Ganondorf saw the look in his eyes all too well. It was the same look the sages had when he had torn through the chains binding him.

"He's overwhelmed," muttered Ganondorf, staring down at the battle beneath him. "He doesn't have the power to hold them all off. That means unless someone-"

Something whooshed past his ear.

Link had leapt off the platform, coming down on the sea of enemies with a downward strike. He quickly followed with a spin attack, creating a large space around him, and he began slashing at the enemies, thinning the crowd.

Ganondorf was truly and utterly stunned. The boy had given up his chance of escaping hell to save the lives of his archenemy and two people he had never met before. If that was what being the hero was like, he was glad to be a villain. Still…

As Link and Zeus fought on, Ganondorf looked at the glowing triangle on the back of his hand. Not for the first time, he wondered if the Triforce had been divided evenly. Certainly, he had wanted power, but that boy had still overpowered him in the end. And it had not been power that made the boy the hero of the land.

Why did the cycle have to repeat itself so? Over and over, he rose, tried to conquer Hyrule, and was slain. Their bloodlines were bound by an ancient curse, or so the legend told. But why did he have to be bound to it? Couldn't he be a hero?

The chains began to speed up again, as the minion hordes thinned. Still, there were a lot of them. Link kept slashing, but the hordes closed in from all sides. Briefly, he tried the wrecking ball, but he could barely get it out with all the fighting. And even as he cut them down, one came up behind him, raising his sword-

WHAM!

Ganondorf's fist collided with its head, knocking the minion back into the crowd, hitting two others. Link looked at him, bewildered.

"Go! Get to the lift!" he yelled. Link still stared at him, confused.

He sighed. "I can't take your Triforce piece if you're dead, now, can I? Now go!"

Link, still confused, looked at the situation. His worst enemy was now risking his life to save him. At this particular moment, the reason why was not important. But could he now abandon him?

Ganondorf saw the turmoil in his eyes. Even now, when given the opportunity of a lifetime, he was still torn. This was the part of being a hero he could never do.

Now, he looked at the boy. "Join them, Link, and make your face the greatest in all of the land, or else you will DIE."

Link nodded, grappling up to the once again moving platform and climbing on. Down below, Zeus looked at Ganondorf as they fought on. "That was very brave of you," Zeus said.

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far," he said, looking at the badge on his chest.

Okay, so maybe he couldn't be the hero, and he'd probably never get a chance.. That was probably for the best – he doubted he could go for more than a week without killing something. But maybe he didn't have to be the hero. This heroic sacrifice – in front of his nemesis, too – might be enough to get them on his side. He was no hero, but he could be heroic. That might be an easier way to acquire power – by earning their trust.

And if it wasn't, well, he had already gained their trust, hadn't he? He would then be in the position to seize power. What was it Dedede had said, a long con?

THUD.

He was awoken from his thoughts/schemes by a loud noise. The minions began to run away, but it seemed clear that something was coming. Something big.

And then he saw him.

First he saw the flames, then the mask they spouted from. And then he saw the whole thing. A large, bare-chested man, carrying a massive cleaver and wearing a clown mask. He was an imposing, hulking creature, and he laughed maniacally.

_If killing this guy doesn't make me a hero, nothing will._

Ganondorf lunged at the man, opening with a flying kick. Sweet Tooth took it, then swung his cleaver around, swiping at him. Ganondorf rolled away, but not far enough to avoid Sweet Tooth's uppercut, which knocked him into the air. He was then suspended in the air as a blast of fire rose up to meet him. When he fell to the ground, Sweet Tooth threw a Molotov cocktail at him, throwing him around some more. The three on the platform watched with horror as Sweet Tooth then walked towards the chains, blade in hand.

_All right, that's enough of being the underdog._

Ganondorf leapt up and sprinted at Sweet Tooth. He had waited to the last possible minute, trying to make it as theatrical as possible. Now, as he bolted towards Sweet Tooth, he prepared to seal the deal.

"The chains! NO!"

Sweet Tooth turned around just in time for Ganondorf's fist to collide with his face. He tried to get up, but speed was not in his repertoire, and so he was helpless to stop a curb stomp from Ganondorf. He lunged down with a kick, preparing to seal the deal, but Sweet Tooth's shotgun came up and blasted him away.

Ganondorf recovered, resuming a fighting stance. He had done quite a bit of damage, and Sweet Tooth was right in front of a pit. Ganondorf couldn't help but chuckle, for there was quite probably nothing Sweet Tooth could do to stop him from knocking him out.

Suddenly, Sweet Tooth transformed into a giant robot. Ganondorf did a double take. Except that.

Not missing a beat, Ganondorf realized he was at full charge, and morphed into his pig form. The two faced off, now with considerably more epic attacks.

Ganon charged at Mecha Tooth, but Mecha stood his ground and pushed him back. He then launched a volley of missiles, which knocked Ganon down for a moment. Mecha then raised his foot to stomp, but Ganon jumped out of the way.

Ganon advanced cautiously, having seen his chance. When Mecha Tooth raised his foot again, he charged with all his might. The giant robot teetered for a moment, then it fell off the side and into the giant pit.

Ganondorf morphed back into his human form. He turned to the elevator, now almost all the way up, and was about to say something heroic, when the ground beneath his feet began to crumble. Ganondorf slipped, and he began to fall.

At first, he struggled, but then he realized that this might not be so bad. A heroic death scene would cement his place in the book of heroes – even if it was just temporary. He prepared his final dramatic line as he tumbled into oblivion.

"No! Not into the pit! IT BURNS! You haven't seen the last of me!" And with that, he fell away, and the elevator finally reached the top.

His last thought was, _Dedede, if this doesn't work, I will kick your-_

xxxxxxx

Link, Cole, and Drake emerged from the gate and into the open air. The sun was just beginning to rise, and the Halberd was just visible in the distance. Cole turned to Link. "I'm not sure what just happened, but it looks like we're on the same side. Will you help us fight the Polygon Man?"

Link nodded, and they shook hands.

"Well, look who it is."

They wheeled around to see Wolf standing next to his Arwing. "Link, back from the dead, I see. And some new friends, too?"

Cole looked at him. "How did you find us here?"

"Well, that big stone gate sticking out of the ground was kind of a giveaway." The two turned to see the gate they had just come through, a giant stone arch with words written across the top:

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. _Except Drake!_

"Drake!" yelled Cole.

Drake looked back from his carving. "What?"

"Get down from there, we got work to do!"

Wolf resumed. "We're about ready to head out, if Snake ever turns up. I can take you back in my ship, but your friends-"

"You don't have to worry about me," Cole said. With that, he shot off into the air, blasting electricity behind him and flying towards the Halberd.

Drake turned to Wolf. "Sorry, Wolfman, but I can't fly. I've been handicapped since birth. Tragic, I know.

"Oh, don't worry," Wolf said. "I came prepared." He pulled out a rope from his ship, then handed one end of the rope to Drake. He then tied the other end to his ship.

Drake hated planes. He hadn't really realized it until now, but as he tied the rope around his waist, it became clear. He hated them.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you all for supporting this series. I enjoy hearing feedback, so feel free to write a review on how I'm doing. Oh, and stay tuned for the next chapter. It's the big one.


	12. Chapter 12: Revengeful

**Chapter twelve**

**Revengeful**

_-Aux call-_

"Snake? It's Otacon."

"Talk to me."

"Have you found the Metal Gear?"

"Yes, but it looks like it's been deactivated for a long time."

"That's a relief. Who knows what kind of damage it might've caused."

"I'm going to attempt to destroy it, just in case."

"Snake, there's something else I need to tell you."

Snake felt a sinking feeling in his gut. "It is him, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so. I checked the databases, and Raiden joined these guys six months ago."

"I can't fight him, Otacon. He's just a kid."

"Look, if you want to stop these guys, you'll have to deal with Raiden eventually. He's changed a lot since you last knew him."

"You're right, Otacon. Where is he now?"

"Let's see. I've managed to lock onto the telemetry in his suit, and he's right…what? No, that's not possible."

"It's entirely possible," another voice said.

Snake froze. Otacon said, "Was that-"

"It certainly was, Otacon. Now Snake, get off the phone, get out of the damn box, and face me like a man."

Snake ended the transmission, removed the box, and turned. He was amazed by what he saw. Yes, that was Raiden's voice, but…could that truly be him?

The white nanosuit that Raiden had worn when he last saw him was replaced by an all-black one, and his chin and left eye were also covered in metal. He looked far more battle-hardened than before, and there was an unmistakable glint in his eye.

Without a doubt, that boy had become a man.

Snake stared in disbelief. "Raiden?"

"In the flesh, at least what's left of it."

Snake turned to his left, where the Metal Gear lay slumped on the ground. "The Metal Gear-"

"Deactivated," Raiden said. "Deployed here by mistake, long since forgotten. The question is, what are you doing here?"

Snake thought about how to word it. "There's a man named Tabuu who's trying to destroy us all. I'm with a new group, and we're trying to stop him."

"And that somehow ended up with you all attacking us? We've never seen or heard of this Tabuu before. Oh, I'm sure the military explained it all so well."

"I'm not working for the military!"

"Oh, really?" Raiden sneered. "And yet, here you are, listening to Otacon tell you to destroy the government's lost toy, hunting for an enemy you can't even be sure exists! You're more of a machine than I am!"

He sighed. "You know, the American government tried to hire me after the Sons of Liberty event. After I had been through hell, killed hundreds of people, and murdered the only father I ever had, what did the government give me? A pat on the head. 'Good job, boy, you've done a service to your country.' But did I really? The Patriots were still on the loose, and I had killed the only man who was trying to stop them. All we had done was put on a puppet show.

"But now it's changed. Now I follow my own path, make my own rules. I've saved lives – hundreds of them – and killed evil men. Can you honestly say the same?"

Snake started to say something, then stopped and thought about it.

"See?" Raiden said angrily. "You're not even sure about it! You know as well as I do that you don't think about what you do. You just do what you're told and figure eventually it'll come out good. And until today, you were mostly right."

Raiden sighed, pulling out a long rectangular case. "Until today. Drake. Nariko. Cole McGrath. Three good people, three strong fighters. And you and your group are responsible for their deaths. You went too far this time." The case opened, and he pulled out a sheathed sword. "They lost their lives. You should consider yourself lucky." He unsheathed his sword. "I'll only be taking a limb or two."

"Don't make me do this, Raiden," Snake said, getting into a fighting stance.

"The only thing you'll be doing is bleeding, Solid Snake," Raiden said.

"So be it," Snake said, pulling out his pistol. He fired a few shots, but Raiden deflected them with his sword easily. As the last one flew by, he got a glance at it.

"Tranquilizer darts," he said, slightly amused. "That's you all the way, Snake. Always trying for the easy way out."

He ran towards Snake, sword in hand. Snake stood there, pulling out his knife. Raiden reached Snake, slashing out with his sword, but Snake just barely blocked it with his knife. He slashed again, and Snake jumped out of the way. Again Raiden slashed, again Snake evaded. Exasperated, Raiden kicked, knocking Snake to the ground. Stunned, Snake had no time to evade as he lifted his sword, slashing down fiercely.

With no other options, Snake brought up his left hand, wincing in anticipation. The blade cut deeply into his flesh, but Snake used this moment of control to direct the path of the sword, embedding it into the ground. For a moment, it was stuck, and he used this moment to punch Raiden in the face, knocking him back. Ignoring the pain in his left hand, he assumed a fighting stance, throwing his knife to the ground.

Raiden got up, grabbed his sword, and threw it aside. "All right, we'll do this your way," he said, also taking a fighting pose. The two circled each other for a bit, eyeing each other.

Snake made the first move, swinging a right hook towards Raiden's face. Raiden brought up a metal arm, and Snake's fist collided with it in a metallic clang. Snake recoiled, grunting from the pain. Raiden smiled. "Come on, Snake. This can't be the first time you've fought a man with a cybernetic exoskeleton." He followed this up with a punch to Snake's gut.

The wind knocked out of him, Snake fell back. He searched himself for something metal, anything to give him an edge. He looked at his watch. _It's solid titanium,_ the man had said. _Virtually indestructible._

Well, time to put that to the test.

He wrapped the watch around his fist, making a rudimentary set of brass knuckles. He turned to Raiden, who was standing there, a bored expression on his face. "Oh, are you ready to start fighting yet?" he mocked.

Snake lashed out again, punching towards his chest this time. Raiden blocked, but the impact of metal on metal caught him off guard, and Snake followed with a left uppercut to his face. It hit his metallic chin, but was still powerful enough to rattle him a bit. Raiden tried a high kick, but Snake caught his foot in midair, throwing him back onto the ground. Snake then stomped his chest, only to get a metallic clank from his fortified ribcage. _My god, is there anywhere on this guy that isn't metal?_

Seeing his frustration, Raiden leapt back onto his feet. "You can't beat me, Snake!" he taunted. "I've been raised, trained, and built to be the ultimate fighter!" He wound up a fist and swung hard at Snake's face, prepared to knock him out.

Snake caught his hand. "So have I."

Raiden struggled, but Snake had his arm in an iron grip. He tried his left hand, but Snake grabbed that as well. Struggling, he realized that he had been rendered defenseless by a man with no weapon, no robotic parts, and one who didn't even want to fight him in the first place.

Snake brought his head forward.

WHAM!

That head-butt sent Raiden reeling. His vision blurred, and a number of red lights flashed up on his HUD. Vaguely, he registered Snake letting him go, but he couldn't do anything about it, as his telemetry had been knocked awry. He could barely keep his balance, and yet he struggled to regain his spatial awareness.

Then Snake's fist came forward.

The punch knocked Raiden to the ground, and Snake came down on top of him. Another punch, and his head was knocked backward. A third punch, and Raiden's eye guard shattered.

And then Snake stopped. He looked down at Raiden's bruised face. Yes, he was battle hardened, but the face was still very much that of a boy. He had been misguided, yes, but that did not mean he deserved death. He held out his hand, and Raiden took it. Snake hoisted him up, then walked away a distance. He took out his communicator and began to speak.

"Hey, Samus? Yeah, it's Snake. I'm fine. Listen, tell Fox I'm sorry I stunned him. I just had to take care of some business, okay? Anyway, I'm done now. Could you send somebody to pick me up?"

Meanwhile, Raiden was picking himself up off the ground. Slowly he limped to his sword, picked it up, then began to move towards Snake.

He had been once again humiliated and beaten half to death, but that didn't mean the battle was over. He still didn't want to kill him, but he had to do something. Someone had to pay for what had happened.

Then a voice came through the communicator, clear and unmistakable. "Is Raiden there?"

Raiden threw down his sword and ran to the communicator, snatching it out of Snake's hand. "Cole? What's going on? I thought they had killed you!"

"Killed me?" Cole said, surprised. "These guys saved me. Drake too. It's the Head, he's the one that wants to kill us."

"What?" Raiden said in disbelief, still trying to wrap his head around everything that had happened.

"Look, I know how strange this sounds, but these people are not our enemy. We've been played this whole time, and they've come to help us."

Raiden turned off the communicator, still astonished. Just a few minutes ago, he had been so sure about everything. Sure about what had happened, sure about what had to be done. Now…

He turned towards Snake. Snake saw the look in his eye. "Raiden, it's okay-"

"No, it's not," Raiden interrupted. "You were right and I was wrong, okay? I jumped to conclusions, and people were hurt because of it. It's just…these people. They're more than just my coworkers. They're…"

"They're your friends," Snake finished. "And you've known them so long, you've gotten to learn all of their peculiarities, their ins and outs, that they're practically your family."

Raiden nodded.

"You saw a threat, and you'd do anything to protect them," Snake continued. "Well, it's the same with us. These people lost their lands, their homes, everything they'd ever known. And I'm helping them to get it back."

Raiden raised his head. There was a look of determination in his eye, of steeled resolve. "Then I will help you." And the two shook hands.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling. The two turned, surprised. The crumpled wreck of a Metal Gear had activated and was now walking towards them.

"I thought you said that thing was deactivated," Snake said.

"It was!"

The two stared at the mech for a moment. Then Snake turned to Raiden. "They said they could be here in five minutes."

"Then we just have one problem," Raiden said, still looking at the mech.

"Which is?"

Raiden looked at him. "What are we going to do for the other four minutes?"

Snake smiled. "You'll need your sword."

Within moments, Raiden had snatched it up and was dashing towards the Metal Gear. "Try and keep up, old man!" he shouted.

"I'm not old!" Snake yelled back, running to the mech. "Not yet."


	13. Chapter 13: Ready to roll

**Chapter thirteen**

**Ready to roll**

Once again, the heroes gathered around the conference table. Samus, standing at the head, considered all that had happened recently. Enemies had become friends, and their true enemy was now in sight. Any doubt that Tabuu had been behind it all was now gone. And now, in just a few short minutes, they would be ending it all.

But now it was time to rally the troops. She cleared her throat, preparing to speak.

"Attention, everyone. The time has come to go to battle. We have come together once again across time and space to vanquish that which has plagued us and others. Today we face off against the most powerful enemy we've ever had once again. His name is Tabuu."

An image of their foe appeared on the wall behind her. It had seemed a bit unnecessary, but they had decided to include a description for the benefit of their new allies.

"We know little about him, and yet he has nearly destroyed us. Twice, he has absorbed our land into another world known only as Subspace. He is unbelievably powerful, and very conniving, having used us against each other before. Not content to take our land, he has now moved on to this one, and the lands of all of your friends," she said, gesturing towards their guests of honor. "We have defeated him once – or so we thought."

She then played a tape of his defeat, of him falling away from them as the world returned to normal.

"Mortally wounded, he retracted all of his Subspace areas, but he himself remained in Subspace. With his windows to the outside gone, he had many years and the loneliness of Subspace to recover within. If we are to truly vanquish him, we will need to alter our strategy."

She then outlined their new strategy. Everyone agreed that it was very good and would probably work. With that done, she moved on.

"Recently, it has come to our attention that he may also be working with a being known as the Polygon Man. Little is known about him." ("Maybe," Drake whispered to Sonic, "they met at a Poorly Defined But Somehow All-Powerful Supervillain convention.") "He has used sleight of hand and tricks to fool our friends into building a device. This device will activate at 9:05, and by 9:07 it will be too late to stop it."

Behind her, the clock struck nine. Samus had actually wound it a few minutes forward to emphasize her point, but the fact remained that time was short.

"And that is why we are now flying towards the place where it will be exposed. Soon we will do battle with it. We will save this land – and all lands after. For once the device is destroyed, our foe will be exposed, and we will have the advantage. We will drive it out, and all will be as it should."

"And if we don't?" Falco said, trying to inject some levity into the conversation.

Samus turned to him, metal in her eyes. "You already know the answer," she said coldly, then resumed her speech.

"But now, we are off to end this evil, to wipe it from the land. Today, we stand ready to clean the scourge of our world. We will face the Polygon Man and Tabuu, and we will win. This is the final boss!" she shouted, and the room broke into applause.

In the cockpit, Meta Knight heard the uproar. Samus must've finished her speech. If only he could be as confident as she was.

The fact was, their defeat before had been more complete, more totally, utterly full, than anything any of them had ever faced before or again. He still hadn't found all of the horrible things those creatures had stowed in his ship. It had taken the profoundly anomalous stroke of genius from Dedede that had saved them then. But he was gone, and Meta Knight knew Tabuu would have some sort of trick up his sleeve.

Sure, they were strong. But were they strong enough?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: _This next part needs some appropriate psych-up music for it. I recommend 'Ready to Roll' by Jet Black Stare. A great song from a wholly unknown band. But I digress._

The Halberd flew off towards its target, chock full of heroes ready to fight. This battle would be epic and action-packed, and they knew they could handle it. Not because they had beaten him before, but because they had beaten everything that they had faced. They came back from death, faced unspeakable odds, and through their strength and courage, they had won every time.

Yes, it would be hard. Insane. Nearly impossible. But they had faced worse. And now their combined strength would cleave through the evil and save the day.

Unless they forgot about something.

_-music off-_

Something important. Something big. Something that could decimate their plan if they weren't prepared for it.

But that was impossible. They had done everything right, and now their path was unopposed. All obstacles had been cleared.

Right?


	14. Chapter 14: We all fear it

**Chapter fourteen**

**We all fear it**

Morning. All is quiet, all is still. At the headquarters, the remaining people sit around, doing nothing. Dante is considering investigating the giant ball of black evil stuff that appeared a distance away, Isaac is reacting very vehemently to something he got on his shoe, and Sir Daniel is practicing his taunts so he doesn't flub them. ('My victory will be sweet. As sweet as a peach picked on a summer morning. But not quite so soft, and without the bitter part in the middle that just kind of ruins the whole…')

Dante happens to glance up and sees the big countdown clock near its final seconds. "Hey, guys, it's almost time," he says, and the rest of the group gather around. They had worked for many months building every last component, but now it was about to all pay off. Dante hadn't been paying attention when the Head had explained how the self-assembly part worked (magnets had something to do with it) but apparently every piece would snap into place, leaving a towering structure which would end world hunger or something, he didn't know. (When you get right down to it, Dante really isn't a good listener.)

They all watch the clock with baited breath. 3…2…1…

And then, outside, it happened.

From the construction zone, large chunks of metal and building flew upwards, stacking onto one another. Bit by bit, the tower assembled itself. Pure white, it started out thick at the bottom, with rounded 'feet' along the ground giving it stability and balance. As it went upward, it tapered off, and a number of black lines ran up to the top, where a large black globe rested just below the spire's peak. When it was all assembled, it towered over everything else at a whopping half a mile in height. It was every bit as majestic as it had looked in the blueprints, but there was something different.

It was Daniel who first put it into words. "It looks a bit more…ah, what's the word…imposing…ominous…"

"Evil?" volunteered Dante.

"Yes, that's it. Evil."

The others reflected upon this sentiment. They thought about what had been promised for their cooperation by the Head, and how unbelievable it had all seemed. They considered the Head himself, how sinister and unscrupulous he had seemed from the start. They recollected the charm and finesse with which he had won them over, how his words had cleverly appealed to each of them individually. They thought of all the villains they had fought in the past that had been just as conniving, who tried to get them on their side, who used them to accomplish their own means.

Kind of shameful, really.

Isaac looked at Dante awkwardly. "Yeah…"

"Well, I guess we could try to destroy this thing," Dante suggested.

This perked them up. Maybe they'd cause a mess or two, but destroying an evil structure was right up their alley. There were even clear structural weaknesses, they could-

Suddenly, the black lines lit up with pulsing orange and red lights that ran up to the top of the tower. The black sphere lit up with red numbers, and from the ground they could just barely make out what it said.

2:00:00

1:59:00

1:58:00

"We could try running," suggested Isaac.

"Yeah, running sounds good," Dante returned.

The group turned away and bolted, trying to get as far away as they could. It seemed it would be no use, though, and they would suffer a horrible fate.

"Can nobody save us?" shouted PaRappa in despair.

Then they all looked up and saw the Halberd flying in, guns blazing.

"Sure," Dante said, "they'll do."

xxxxxxx

In the cockpit, Meta Knight concentrated as the tower came into range. The others had come into the cockpit and were watching intensely.

"Hurry, shoot it!"

"Don't hit the ball, you'll set it off!"

"Take out the tower, then it won't be getting any power!"

"Focus on the black lines, those are where the power's going up."

Meta Knight ignored them all, focusing on his aim. He locked on just as the clock hit 1:40.

"Fire!" someone yelled. He ignored them but still fired anyway. All of the minor guns along the side of the ship belted out, blasting lasers at the tower. They all impacted, and all bounced off.

"It's got mirror coating!" someone else yelled. Meta Knight thought of this new development, and a new strategy to go along with it.

Then he noticed the shots all coming straight back at him. For a moment he just stood there, staring.

Then his brain kicked in.

"Oh." He spun the wheel hard to the right, and the Halberd rolled out of the way just in time. In the cockpit, everyone stumbled as the ship swayed. A few shots hit the front, but he had the mask made reflective, so they bounced off harmlessly.

1:30:00

This gave him an idea. He then fired the laser at the tower. As it bounced, he repositioned himself so that the mask reflected the laser back towards the tower. Keeping a constant beam, he held steady, hoping that a continuous blast would slice through the shielding.

1:20:00

"We're just wasting time!" Raiden said impatiently. Meta Knight mentally slapped him, but he knew he was right. The beam wasn't doing much of anything. But he already had a new plan.

He turned to the four standing behind him. "Pilots! To your ships, and take augment MS! Star formation, surround and hold fire!" His words were short and few, but they got the message across. The four ran straight to their ships, which were parked on the outside deck just as they had been that day they had invaded Subspace. Now, however, their goal would be to prevent Subspace.

1:10:00

As they took off, Meta Knight thought about the other people in his group. A few – Samus, Snake, even Falcon – were well versed in military, but most of them were naïve, inexperienced, downright unprepared for battle. True, some were only children, but in a world like this, everyone needed to be ready for battle. Why, it was Kirby's own foolhardy lifestyle that had released Dark Nebula, along with many other unsavory things.

1:00:00

That was why he had built the Halberd, to wake Dreamland up, so to speak, to prepare it for the constant war. It was not out of malice, but of protection – let's see Zero try to take over the world when there's ten heroes to fight him. Or twenty. Or a hundred!

50:00

But maybe he had done more harm than good. It was thanks to the Halberd, after all, that the Subspace armies had marched across the world. What had been made for good was used for evil. Was it truly worth it in the end?

"Captain Falcon in position."

The radio jolted him out of his thoughts.

"Captain Olimar in position."

"Fox in position."

"Poyo poyopoyo!"

40:00

"Then we've not a moment to lose. Raise mirror shields!" Meta Knight shouted.

The five ships ringed around the tower brought up the rounded shields facing the tower.

"Get ready," Meta Knight warned, preparing. Turning slightly with the wheel, he angled the Halberd slightly differently. The reflected blast now hit the tower slightly to the right, and the tower's sloped surface caused it to shoot off in a completely different direction, flying precisely towards Fox's ship. It then hit the shield, hit the tower again, and bounced off towards Olimar's ship. It bounced towards the tower again, then the Dragoon, the tower, Captain Falcon's ship, the tower, and finally back to the Halberd, where it shot straight back to the tower.

30:00

The laser blast had now formed a thin star, hitting the tower in five different places. It still couldn't cut through, but lasers are very high temperature, and mirror coating did not shield against heat.

25:00

The tower began to glow red where the lasers were hitting.

20:00

Now it glowed yellow, and a few of the lights heading up the black lines began to snuff out. The countdown continued, though.

15:00

The tower was glowing white hot now, and Meta Knight swore he could see it starting to bend at the center, to tip to the side. Still, though, the countdown continued.

10:00

Now the tower was listing way to the side.

9:00

The numbers flickered.

8:00

They stuttered.

7:00

And at 6:56, they blinked out completely, and the top-heavy tower fell over, crashing to the ground.

The Halberd bridge erupted in applause, and Meta Knight relaxed, breathing easily.

Samus then turned to the group. "All right, people, this isn't over yet! We need to work out our next step.

"Now that Tabuu's plan has failed, he'll have to come to us. If we get him on our playing field, we can-"

_FWOOM_

Beneath them, the headquarters of the other group was suddenly engulfed by Subspace.

"Whoa!" Meta Knight shouted, spinning the wheel. He swerved away from the expanding dark circle and took off in the opposite direction. The other ships did the same, but Olimar's ship wasn't fast enough, and it was swallowed by the darkness, as was the group down below.

On the bridge, things had erupted into chaos.

"What was that?" shouted Raiden.

"That didn't even come from the tower!" Snake yelled.

"The tower wasn't even a bomb, it was just a clock!" Samus responded, "And we all fell for it!"

The Arwing and Falcon's ship came near the Halberd, preparing to land as they raced away, but Kirby's Dragoon raced off in a different direction. Behind them, the Subspace circle kept expanding. Already it was bigger than most of the bombs they had seen before.

"What are we going to do?" asked Ash.

Samus tried to think. "Okay. We can recover from this. As long as we can get some reinforcements-"

"Who? Everyone we know is either in here or in there!" Snake shouted, gesturing at the still expanding Subspace.

"We could call Megaman, he might-"

It was at this precise moment that the timer on Radec's explosives reached zero.

Two explosions shook the Halberd. The first took out the left wing, the second hit the engines. Captain Falcon's ship was in the radius of the first, and he lost control, spiraling towards the ground. The Subspace took him before the ground did. Fox, who was lagging behind, got hit with a chunk of one of the engines. His right wing snapped off, and he struggled to keep control. He managed to keep his altitude constant, but his speed plummeted, and he was soon engulfed by Subspace as well.

The Halberd began to list, and a chain reaction of explosions rocked the hull. Meta Knight struggled to keep control, but he could only do so much. Two engines gone, and one damaged beyond repair, and the other two just couldn't keep up. Speed and altitude plummeted, and larger pieces started falling off.

"What do we do?" Lucas wailed in despair.

Meta Knight turned around and looked out the back of the bridge. He saw the surface of his beloved ship torn apart by explosions for a third time. Then he looked up.

The wall of Subspace loomed. It was now bigger than any they had ever seen before, and it was still expanding. There was nothing they could do to stop it. All powerful, unending, it was their doomsday.

Nothing left to do but embrace it.

The crowd had fallen silent as everyone stared at the darkness. Samus knew they needed some inspirational words, but none came to mind.

_Audi famem ilius_

It was Snake who started the song, singing slowly and deeply.

_Solus in Hostes Wit_

Samus and Raiden joined in.

_Et Patriam Sevavit_

The whole bridge joined in, raising their voices as the darkness came to meet them.

_Audi famem ilius_

The Subspace now took the remaining engines and continued towards them. The explosions now began to fade as it advanced.

_Curcurit quaque_

Link held out his hand. Zelda took it solemnly.

_Tetigit Destrutens_

The darkness engulfed them, taking the entire bridge in moments. Then the deck, then the helm, and then there was nothing but the silence of Subspace.


	15. Chapter 15: The consequences of failure

**Chapter fifteen**

**The consequence of failure**

SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

The bruised, battered, beaten wreck of the Halberd scraped along the ground, filling Subspace with an unearthly screech. After a while, it screeched to a stop, tipping over and landing on one side. The engines and explosions had stopped, and it was once again quiet.

WHANG!

The side door flew up into the air, knocked cleanly off its hinges by a kick from Raiden. He jumped out of the ship and looked around. "Could've been worse," he said. "Under the circumstances, that was a nice three point landing."

Drake emerged next. "I'm not sure this is the kind of landing you count with points. More like a 'half-mile of scorched earth' landing."

"Hey, we made it out in one piece."

"Except for this piece," Drake responded, pulling out one of R.O.B.'s arms. R.O.B. quickly snatched it back and reattached it.

Bit by bit, the rest emerged, bruised but alive. "I felt that one in my pixels," Ash said, groaning.

"Pixels?" Raiden asked quizzically.

"Oh, it's nothing," Ash responded.

Last to emerge was Meta Knight, cell phone to his ear. "Hey, Joey. Yeah, I'm gonna need a fix up. I kind of totaled it. Yes, again. I'll need a pick-up, too. The location?" He looked around. "I'll let you know as soon as I can. I'll say this: at least it's not in the water again. Sure, Tuesday's good for me. Okay. Bye." Hanging up his cell phone, he looked at the rest of them. "Right, let's get moving again."

Reaching into the ship, he pulled out some long cylindrical metal containers. He threw one of them at Drake, who caught it. "What's this?" he asked.

"Important." Meta Knight threw the other two to Samus and Snake, then said, "All right, what's the plan?"

"Well, like it or not, we're in Subspace again," Samus said. "We'll have to do what we did before – beat Tabuu and save the world."

"Minus the part where we all nearly die," Fox said, having made his way over from his crashed Arwing. Behind him, Olimar and Captain Falcon also walked up.

"Fair enough. So, where do we find this Tabuu?" Raiden asked.

Samus looked a little irritated. "If we knew that, we would've already caught him by now."

Drake sighed. "So we just walk around until we find him?"

"Nothing wrong a little nonlinear section," Samus responded.

"Nonlinear?" Drake said incredulously. "We'll just be wandering around! We need objectives!"

"We have objectives."

"Yes, but we should have at least some idea how to satisfy them. Locations to reach, places to go through, and a knowledge of how to beat the-"

"All right," Samus said to the group, ignoring Drake. "We'll split into three groups. Safety in numbers, and he won't be able to wipe us all out in a single attack. If anyone has any trouble, call us on the phones, and we'll come running Group A will travel north by east," she said, pointing. "Group B goes due south. And Group C-"

Then Sonic, who had been silent the whole time, sped off to the west, towards some distant sphere.

Samus sighed. "Get Sonic."

xxxxxxx

Sonic ran, and the five heroes followed.

No, not five. Kirby had left earlier for parts unknown. Where to, it wasn't clear, but they all hoped he had something up his sleeve.

In any case, the four heroes kept running. Sonic may have been the fastest thing alive, but they were making pretty good time, too. They managed to keep him in sight.

"Sonic!" Pit called out, but it was no use. He either couldn't hear them or didn't care, as he kept running.

They could all remember back to the time when they first met Sonic. Brash, snarky, and reckless, he had been the antithesis to their purely heroic natures. They had clashed, but it hadn't been such a big deal as it had been made out to be. His new and overt personality had been a nice change from the blank slates of their time, and they had grown to like him.

Ahead of them, Sonic skidded to a halt. The heroes ran up behind him, about to say something, but the look on Sonic's face stopped them. He had a mixture of fear and grief on his face, not like anything they had seen before. Then they turned and looked at the world before them.

Station Square stood majestically before them, its skyscrapers pointing up at the Subspace above them. Not a brick out of place, they stood as if nothing had happened. On the streets, however, the figures frozen there told a different story.

Hundreds of people in the streets, fleeing in panic.

Knuckles standing in the middle of it, directing the crowd.

Vector and his team running in the opposite direction, trying desperately to stop something they could not begin to understand.

Shadow with a Chaos Emerald in hand, frozen with the look of horror that came when he found that Chaos Control can't stop Subspace.

Amy standing defiantly, sheltering a small animal.

And perhaps worst of all was Tails, right by the edge of the zone, terror in his eyes as he frantically ran from the expanding aura of death. He was only twenty or thirty feet away from the edge of the blast radius.

All of these were statues, not trophies. Whatever Tabuu had done in the time they had been gone, he had learned how to truly freeze them without a way of repair. They thought it would go back to normal after they beat Tabuu, but who could say?

Now Sonic walked up to Tails slowly, and the others noticed something colorful in his hand. Sonic placed his hand on the radio Tails was holding and switched it off.

"I was in the Green Hill Zone when you called," he said quietly, looking at Tails' face. "I ran as fast as I could, but I…I just wasn't fast enough." He sank to his knees.

For years, he had known these people. Whenever a villain came, he could rely on help from his friends. But now they were gone. Even Tails, his best friend, was now frozen with the rest of them. He was alone.

Mario put his hand on Sonic's shoulder. Sonic turned reflexively. There he was, the man he had known all his life. For a time, they had competed. Then, when Sonic had fallen on hard times, he had stepped in and helped. Eventually, he stood higher than Sonic ever had, but he still looked at him as an equal. Now, he held out his hand, and Sonic took it.

_No, not alone_, Sonic thought as he was helped to his feet. _I still have my oldest friend. And together, we'll save them all._

xxxxxxx

Back in reality, Dr. Ivo Robotnik looked down on Station Square from a very different point of view. Most of his fleet had made it out safely, but he was left with no plan. In his cockpit, he tried to think of what to do next.

"Well, that's my laboratory gone, along with all my plans. The Chaos Emeralds, his allies, even Sonic – all lost to Subspace. I can't even get the tools to fix my Death Egg! What am I going to do?"

Suddenly, his communicator turned on, and a little pink ball appeared onscreen.

Eggman looked at the display. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

_"Poyopoyo poy poyo poy-"_

"Slow down, puffball!" Eggman said. "What's this about Subspace?"

_"Poy poyo yo."_

"Tabuu?" Eggman scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, I believe I've heard Sonic bragging about him before."

_"Poyopoy poyo poy poyo!"_

"A new land? Interesting. Perhaps I could spread my influence to-"

_"NO!"_

"Okay, okay," Eggman said, put off by the intensity in his voice. "So what is it you want from me?

_"Poyo poy pyo poyopoyo poyo pyo!"_

"Support? How could I help? I'm not going in that Subspace, you can be sure of that!"

_"Poyopoyo poy pyo poy!"_

"Oh, I could do that. Give me the coordinates, and my fleet will be there in minutes."

_"Poyopoyo pyo?"_

Eggman frowned. "What do you mean? Of course it's large enough! Nine ships, I'd like to see anyone take down that!"

_"Poyo pyo poy poyo."_

"Sonic doesn't count! He had the Chaos Emeralds, I didn't account for that in my construction!"

_"Poyo poy poyopoyo?"_

Eggman sighed. "Fine, we'll do it your way." On the inside, though, he knew he was right. He didn't want to take that kind of risk, especially with his base compromised. "I'll call one of my friends, he can help. But don't expect to hold that 'saved me from a hole in time' thing over my head again, this is the last time." And with that, he ended the call.

Then he pulled out his phone and made a call. "Albert? I need a bit of a hand."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for reading, everyone. It's been a lot of fun making these chapters for you all. Maybe you all feel inspired to make a fanfic of your own, or maybe you were planning on doing so anyway. If so, here's a tip for you: the hardest thing about a Super Smash Bros. fanfic is giving everyone something to do. There's way too many characters to give everyone a notable moment. This is compounded in a crossover with PSABR, where there's more than 50 characters to keep track of. In addition, I've barely played any of the games they're from. So you were hoping for Kat? Never heard of her. Enjoyed the parts with Sir Daniel? That's all I've got on him. And everything I know about Toro I learned from the wiki just before writing about him. So my advice is this: just focus on a few characters, and give them full arcs, rather than trying to incorporate all of them. Sure, half of the characters will end up standing around doing nothing, but if you can make the other parts good enough, it'll be better in the long run. Thanks, and keep reading, we're nearing the end.


	16. Chapter 16: What Nightmares are made of

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the delay. This was an instance where I just couldn't figure out where to stop writing. Also, I was planning to end soon, but I just keep thinking of new ideas. The end result: expect a few more Subspace chapters, but the end is still in sight. Enjoy, and I'll try to get the next one out sooner.

**Chapter sixteen**

**What Nightmares are made of**

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Bowser screamed as he returned to life. Beside him, Dedede and Wario also revitalized.

"It worked!" Dedede said. "Dedede saves the day again!"

"That's great, now get me out of here!"

"Bowser, we just came back from petrification," said Dedede, annoyed. "Why can't you be happy for once?"

"Hmm, let me think," Bowser said sarcastically. "One, I'm in Subspace. Two, I'm in the middle of enemy territory. And three, I'm in a cage with the two of you!" he yelled.

"Then stop yelling," Wario said irritably. "We're right here."

"I will yell if I want to, you fat little-"

WHAM!

Dedede's hammer collided with Bowser's face. He hit the cage hard, rattling it. "What was that for?" he said, getting up.

"What's your percentage at?"

"37, now why did you-"

WHAM!

Another whack, and Bowser hit the cage again, this time harder. "Cut that out, or I'll-"

WHAM!

This time, he hit the cage so hard that he ricocheted off the side. "Hang on a second-"

WHAM!

Another ricochet, and this time the cage started to buckle where he impacted. "Can we talk about this for a-"

WHAM!

The bars that he hit groaned, as if the impact had nearly shattered them. It took Bowser a few seconds to stop bouncing around. "No, wait," he said, panting. "I've got a better idea, we can-"

WHAM!

And on that sixth hit, Bowser went flying through the structurally compromised bars, which didn't break so much as dissolve. Bowser kept flying, blasting through the wall of the headquarters and out onto the barren landscape. His badge fell off, landing somewhere around the feet of the frozen people who had tried to flee. Dedede and Wario climbed out of the cage slowly, Wario laughing hysterically.

"Six hits, 37% each," Dedede said. "It only took 222% to break through that cage. I figured we might have to get into the 300s, but I guess you live and learn."

Then Bowser burst through the door, fire in his eyes. "DEDEDE!" he yelled, charging at the penguin.

"Bowser, think about this," he said as the Koopa advanced. "Do you really want to do this?"

Thinking, however, seemed to be the last thing on Bowser's mind as he ran towards Dedede, preparing to teach him a lesson.

"All right, fine," Dedede said, holding out one hand. As Bowser lunged at him, he flicked him on the forehead.

Bowser was flung back, flying out through the doors he had just burst in through, knocking one of them off its hinges and landing quite far away.

"223%, Bowser!" Dedede yelled after him. "We can keep this up all day long, but it won't be any different!"

_Five minutes later_

Bowser stumbled through the now wholly obliterated doorway, staggering towards Dedede once again, panting and gasping. Dedede just stood there, hand at the ready. "239%, in case you were wondering," he said, grinning. "Want to go for a nice round 240, or are you ready to give up?"

"No," Bowser said, gasping. "I'm not done…with you. I could still…totally…" He collapsed at Dedede's feet, panting and wheezing.

Satisfied, Dedede tossed a Max Tomato beside Bowser's head. "Any time you're ready, we'll be out here." With that, he strode out of the building, Wario following behind him.

xxxxxxx

The villains walked out the building and into the desert-like terrain, looking at the place around them. "This one's big," Dedede said in awe. "I don't think I've ever seen one this big before."

"Shut your jaw, king Ping," Wario said, "We've got work to do!"

"You're right," Dedede said. Seeing a group of petrified heroes, he made a beeline for them, pulling off his badge as he did so. Once he reached the nearest figure, he placed the badge on the side of their head. Within a few seconds, the figure began to glow. A circle of light traveled up its body, and then Isaac Clarke was free. He then promptly toppled over, since he had been in the running position before he froze.

"Where am I?" he said, picking himself up.

"Same place as you were before," Dedede said, plucking the badge off his head. "It's the place that's changed place." He then attached the badge to the next figure.

"What are you doing?" a voice said from behind. Bowser had emerged from the building, and he ran towards them. "They're the enemy!"

Dedede sighed. "Haven't you been paying attention? We're in Subspace. There's only one enemy here, and we'll have to work together."

As PaRappa revived, Isaac looked around. "Where's Dante?" he asked, looking at the spot where he had been. There, instead, was Bowser's badge.

Bowser looked at Dedede. "What was the range on those thingies?"

"The badges? I dunno. They're supposed to be just if you're wearing them, but I never got a chance to test it."

"Hmm. Well, maybe…" Bowser stopped. "I just realized something."

"What?"

"I don't care. Now grab your action figures and let's get a move on." And with that, he walked away.

xxxxxxx

Samus scanned the terrain. "All clear," she said to her group. The group of twelve or so heroes walked forward, looking around as they walked.

"Wouldn't that mean we're going the wrong way?" Drake asked.

"No, it means we're still looking," Samus said without looking back.

"Well, if there's nothing there, then surely there's nothing there?"

Samus turned. "You're new to this whole exploration thing, aren't you?"

Drake's face turned red. "Don't take that attitude with me, Mistress Chief! I've been to jungles, I've been to deserts – you name it, I've seen it all. So don't talk to me like I'm some kid playing in the playground, because I'm getting sick of it!"

"Oh, really?" Samus said, getting angry. "Tell me, on what adventure were you dropped in a hostile planet, with no map but the one you made for yourself, with nothing but a short ranged blaster to defend you from the thousands of monsters who want your head on a platter? How many giant lizards have you faced? How about alien parasites? Have you even had to kill anything that walks on more than two legs? So don't talk to me about exploring, boy!"

_Rumble_

They all heard it at once, and stopped bickering. They all looked around, but only Ash looked up, so he saw it before anyone else. "Look, up there!" he shouted, and the others looked, stupefied by what they saw.

A large sphere was slowly descending, one of the many areas taken under Tabuu's influence. In it was a large mountain, but at this angle they didn't recognize it. And it was slowly descending.

Onto them.

They all scattered, with Samus grabbing Ness and Lucas, Drake running off his own way, and the others trying to stay together. The mountain started coming down faster, but it was no use. Tabuu may have been able to manipulate time and space, but he couldn't make those spheres go into freefall. Everyone made it, with Ash clearing the drop area seconds before it came crashing down.

WHAM!

It was a strange impact. For one, there was no crater or dust kicked up, just the cold floor of Subspace.

Samus picked herself up. She looked at the children in her arms, who were thankfully unharmed. "Is everyone okay?" she shouted, hoping they could hear her around the massive mountain.

Drake stood up. "I'm cool!" he shouted back. Beside him, everyone else picked themselves up. "Man, I've been to some dangerous places, but that's the first time one of them's come to me."

"Start walking counter-clockwise around the mountain," she yelled. "We'll walk clockwise and meet in the middle!"

Drake smiled. "Hey, you know what they say. Ain't no mountain high enough…"

_Rumble grumble_

That rumbling sound again. It seemed to be coming from the mountain, but it wasn't moving. Was he going to try and crush them again?

Then Ash recognized the mountain. Its reddish tint, many tunnels, and large cavern at the top were unmistakable. "It's Mount Chimney!" he said.

"Please tell me chimney means 'happy dormant mountain' in Japanese," Drake said.

Then the lava came, gushing out of every tunnel and orifice, coming towards the heroes.

"All right, don't worry," Ash said, "I've got a plan."

"So do I," Drake replied. "RUN!"

The group scattered again as the lava rushed down the mountain. It seemed it wasn't contained by the bubble the mountain was, and it spread.

Samus kept running, the children behind her. Eventually, they found the large, most recent area, and Samus looked around for some other survivors. "Stay with me, kids," she said to the two boys.

Then Ness looked across the desert and saw something. "Hey, there's somebody over there!" he shouted, looking at the man coming towards them.

Samus looked as well, but Lucas kept looking around. Something seemed…off.

Too late, he saw the large puddle of goop heading towards them. "Look out!" he shouted, and then it grabbed them.

xxxxxxx

Lucas opened his eyes. It was dark, even more so than before, and the biome was gone. The other two got up beside him and looked around. Where were they?

Suddenly, Lucas heard footsteps. He wheeled around, charging up a PK fire. "PK…" he started, then he faltered. A shape was approaching, one that seemed all too familiar.

"Long time, no see, Lucas."

Lucas gasped. He knew that voice. "No…" he said, backing away. "You were trapped…"

Porky advanced out of the gloom, a sneer on his face. "Surprised?"

Lucas tried to run, but he couldn't feel his legs. "No…stop…you've already done enough…" he pleaded.

He laughed. "Oh, not even close."

xxxxxxx

Beside him, Ness assumed a defensive stance. He couldn't see the figure advancing, but he knew he wasn't going to let it reach them. Beside him, Lucas was shivering, but Ness stood firm. He had faced the unthinkable before, and after what he had to destroy, nothing could-

_Ness…_

His blood ran cold. Out from the gloom, the shape emerged. But that wasn't possible, he had-

_Nessnessnessnessness…_

Giygas came forward, just as it had that fateful day. Ness tried to stand defiantly, but he felt his legs shake.

_No_, he thought, _it can't be true. I defeated Giygas, it can't be here._

_No, it is here, and about to attack us! Fight!_

Ness tried to take an offensive stance, but he could still barely understand how it was back. He started to take some deep breaths, but he wasn't getting any better.

Then the first attack came.

He was taken off guard, and he nearly fell on his back.

_I'm h…a…p…p…y…_

_No!_ he thought. _Concentrate! PK pulse, PK pulse, PK-_

The second attack hit him.

It was no use. He couldn't get his mind in order enough to fight. He soon realized that Giygas was about to attack again.

And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

xxxxxxx

Behind her, Ness began shuddering as well. Samus pointed her blaster at the approaching figure. It seemed she'd be fighting alone, but that had never stopped her before.

Before, she had let her fears take over her, and it had nearly caused the death of one of her friends. But this time, she wasn't going to let it happen. Kraid, Ridley – whatever came her way, she'd see that those kids were not harmed.

She heard the footsteps. Whoever this was, they were hardly the biggest enemies she'd ever faced. That might make things easier. But who could it be? Rundas?

Out of the gloom, the figure slowly emerged. It seemed to be vaguely humanoid, about Samus' height, and – oh, no.

The SA-X continued slowly walking towards her, blaster pointed at them. Samus fought every urge to run and hide and kept in front of the kids.

_How did it get here? Did they not all die in the crash? Did I fail?_

She pushed all these thoughts out of her mind and focused on the creature in front of her. The SA-X began charging up a shot. Samus raised her arm, but her blaster was gone. Her entire power suit had somehow been stripped of her, and she was left in only her Zero Suit. Practically naked, she was certainly unprepared for the creature before her. With the children not moving, it would be a matter of seconds before it killed them all. Yes, it seemed they wouldn't survive this one.

Might as well give the children a few more seconds, then.

She planted her feet and aimed her stun pistol at the SA-X. It stopped, half cautious and half curious. She fired a fully charged blast, but it plinked off its suit harmlessly. Realizing she couldn't hurt it, the SA-X resumed coming closer.

Samus then released her laser whip and lashed out at the creature. Reflexively, it jumped back, but Samus knew that if the pistol couldn't hurt it, there was no way the whip would. She swore she saw the SA-X smirk, as if to say, _So this is truly the last stand of the great Samus Aran? This is all you have?_

Then it took its helmet off, and Samus prayed the children were not watching.

The face beneath it was that of Samus', but with pale white skin and large red eyes. The mouth was much larger, and its hair had fallen out in places, a perfect face for the monstrous version of Samus that stood before them. And now this inhuman creature that had chased her to the end of the world looked at her and opened its mouth.

**Run.**

The pistol blast hit it in the face, stunning it momentarily. Samus swung forward with the whip, but it recovered and rolled out of the way. Screaming an unearthly cry, the SA-X put its helmet back on, then started charging up a shot.

Samus stood stock still, not in fear but in defiance, preparing for the impact. As it reached full charge, his face appeared in front of her eyes.

_I'm sorry, Adam,_ she thought, not totally in sorrow, but having accepted her fate. _I did my best._

SLASH

For a second, a curved line appeared in the air, and then it was gone. The SA-X seemed not to notice and fired, but Samus dodged and continued staring.

WHAM

The darkness was shattered, and a large ripple extended through it, as if the nightmare they were trapped in had just been impacted for a split second. Ness and Lucas snapped out of their trances, and Samus discovered that she had her power suit once again. She turned to the SA-X, but it seemed frozen, as if it, too, had been hit.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

The report of a shotgun rang throughout the area, and a great many small ripples went through the darkness. Then it parted for a moment, and the group saw, just above them, a man holding a shotgun, and he seemed as surprised to see them as they were to see him. Then the darkness closed around him again.

"Grab onto me, children," Samus said, aiming her grappling gun at the place he had been.

"What's going on?" Lucas asked frailly.

"A nightmare," Samus said. "And I think it's high time we wake up."

xxxxxxx

Nightmare recoiled from Dante's attacks, but he showed no signs of taking damage. But those people were still trapped inside him, and Dante wasn't about to give up. He pulled out his sticky grenade launcher, charging three shots.

He had more questions than he had bullets. What is this thing? Who were those people? What happened to the world? After everything that had happened, he couldn't be sure anymore. But right now, none of that really mattered. There was a villain, people were in danger, and he had weapons. He knew what he had to do.

The three sticky bombs launched and detonated. The sickening puddle scattered from the explosion, and Dante looked down and saw the three people inside. He only had a few seconds, but his demon chain could probably-

The grappling beam launched out of the pit. Dante grabbed it reflexively, and he was instantly yanked off his feet. Frantically, he looked around for something to grapple onto, but there was nothing. He wasn't willing to let go, but they were yanking him right towards Nightmare, and their opening was literally closing.

He'd faced worse.

Quickly, he pulled out his Eryx gauntlets, jumped into the air, and then slammed down with all his strength in a ground pound. His fist sank into the floor of Subspace, and he stopped sliding. He yelled out to the people below. "Start climbing! You don't have much-"

The grappling beam retracted, flinging Samus, Ness and Lucas out of the beast and into Dante. They collided, and her momentum sent them rolling across the ground. Fortunately, since they were all heroes, they all did a midair recovery and landed on their feet. It would've been cool if anyone had been watching.

"Samus," Samus said, looking at Dante.

"Dante," Dante replied.

"Nice to meet you."

An unearthly roar came from in front of them. Nightmare had solidified and formed into a large, amorphous mass with large, slimy bits hanging off all over. It was the sort of thing that could make you lose your lunch – if you were the lunch losing type, at least.

"Do you see a weak spot?" Samus and Drake both asked at once.

"I guess that's a no," Samus said.

"Yeah," Dante replied. "I'll have to fall back on my old creed."

"Which is?"

"When in danger or in doubt, hit it in the face." With that, he leapt forward and started slashing at what was probably its face. Samus had to admire his tenacity. They may look similar, but this Dante was nothing like that weakling Drake.

After a few slices, however, it was clear that he was not winning. In fact, the thing seemed to be slowly sucking him in!

Samus fired her grapple beam again, latching on to Dante and pulling with all her might. He stopped sinking, but he wasn't getting out, either. Nightmare soon saw what was going on and turned to Samus. Three short, rapid-fire blasts of energy started coming towards her, but she couldn't afford to let go of Dante, and her weapon hand was taken.

Quickly, Dante pulled out his guns and shot the projectiles down. More came. Tens more. Hundreds more. Dante kept shooting, but the shots kept coming, and they were getting closer to Samus. But she was stuck and he was stuck. What could they do?

"PK Pulse!"

Nightmare recoiled from the light, and Dante was yanked free. A light orb appeared on the front of the creature.

"PK Fire!"

Lucas's shot hit the orb dead center, and Nightmare cried in pain.

"Now that's a weak spot!" Dante said. He and Samus both unloaded their clips into the ball. More groans of pain ensued, and the orb started to shatter. Then Nightmare collapsed in on itself and returned to its puddle form.

"All right, Phase two!" Dante shouted. He still had no idea what this thing was, but a boss battle was always a fun time. "Hit the lights again, kids, I think that's the weak-"

Then the puddle started to ooze towards Samus and Drake. They backed away, and it started coming faster. They turned and ran, and it kept coming, faster and faster. Lucas and Ness chased after them, launching their PK thunders and keeping them hovering over the rapidly moving puddle. The entire group took off, heading deep into the darkness of Subspace.

"Uh, Samus?" Dante said worriedly. "It's getting faster." Indeed, the puddle was nearing them at an alarming rate.

"So am I." Samus grappled out to him once again, and she grabbed him in her arms just before her dash boots kicked in. The group rocketed away, but Nightmare was able to match their pace still. Dante fired a few shotgun blasts into it, but it was still keeping good time.

Behind them, Ness and Lucas tried to keep up. Fortunately, they had actually planned for something like this. A few of their more militaristic friends had suggested harnessing their powers for pursuit, and they had learned fast.

Linking arms, Ness and Lucas leapt into the air. Ness launched a PK Thunder, using it to propel them forward. Lucas then followed up with another PK Thunder, propelling them again. The two alternated, flinging themselves forwards at high speeds, and soon they had caught up to the rest of the group.

At this particular moment, Drake happened to be passing by. He looked and saw the scene in its entirety: Samus in her full power suit carrying Dante, being pursued by a malignant puddle, with two kids launching through the air with lightning bringing up the rear. He watched the caravan as it hurtled past him.

For a while, he was silent. He thought about what he had just witnessed. "Okay, you win," he said. "NOW I've seen it all." With that, he continued on his way.

xxxxxxx

Finally, the two children reached Nightmare. Making sure to avoid actually hitting it, they shot themselves lower, coming as close as they could to the thing. Slowly, it emerged from its puddle, and its weak spot was exposed from their light.

"It's open," Dante said. "The kids opened the weak spot!"

"Then brace for impact," Samus said.

"Impact?" Dante looked forward, but he couldn't see anything. "What do you-"

Samus crouched down, coming to an abrupt halt. She began pulsing with energy, and Dante, still in her arms, saw Nightmare approaching like a freight train. "Wait, hold on, what are we-"

Then Samus propelled herself backward using all her momentum from the dash. She and Dante slammed into the weak spot, shattering it to pieces, and then ricocheted off.

GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYAH!

Nightmare howled in pain, defeated. It dissolved into a liquid, but then oozed away in all different directions. While not dead, it certainly wasn't going to recover from that anytime soon.

In moments, Dante and Samus were on their feet. The children landed nearby. Samus turned to Dante. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"That was great!" he replied. "Let me tell you, you are one dynamite gal!"

Samus had never been called that before, and didn't know how to respond. She decided to take it as a compliment, and she realized that she was beginning to like this man.

But there was no time for that. They had to regroup, and the sooner the better. "Come on," she said, walking back in the direction they had come. "I'll explain what's going on as we walk."

"Finally!" Dante said, and they set off. A while ago, this place had seemed scary. Nightmarish, almost. But they had just established their dominance on this place in quite an impressive fashion. Whatever came their way, they could take it on.

Well, probably.


End file.
